When did this Happen?
by mysteryssister
Summary: Dramione- Hermione is so upset when she breaks up with Ron and has no idea what to do. But someone else can take her mind off the whole thing... But there could be some trouble with that plan. Summary sucks, story is good.
1. Getting a Plan

Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter (sadly) does not belong to me. It's J.K. Rowling's. I only own this particular plot.

Hermione watched Harry and Cho Chang stroll by arm in arm, chatting. Harry didn't even look at her. He had very little time for his old friends now that he had finally gotten his date with Cho. The pair rounded the far corner, the one that led to the Room of Requirement.

_They probably want some 'quality time' together_, Hermione thought bitterly. As if they didn't spend every waking minute together anyways. Where was Ron? He was the only one who would say anything bad about the 'Chosen One' and his 'Golden Girlfriend'. And maybe a kiss would cheer her up. But, as people say, 'Things have to get worse before they get better.' Draco Malfoy was strutting towards her, smirking.

"Feeling sorry for yourself, Mudblood?" he sneered as he passed. "Feeling _lonely_ now that precious Potter has someone better to hang out with than you and the weasel?"

"_Actually_," she retorted sharply, though his words were painfully true, "I was going to practice cheering charms. Goodbye." _And drop dead_, she thought, turning on her heel. As she marched off in the direction opposite the one Harry and Cho had taken, Malfoy debated on whether or not to jinx her, but decided against it. She probably knew a lot more spells than he did, and could also probably perform them better. Besides, it was dishonorable to attack an opponent when her back was turned. Not that he'd ever cared before…

Hermione had mastered cheering charms two years before, so she headed to the library. It would be quiet enough for her to finish an essay Snape, the potions master, had assigned, and Ron would expect her to be there.

Ron _still_ hadn't arrived, and Hermione had finished her essay and started on her rune translations. Just then, his sister, Ginny, thumped onto the chair across from her.

"Missing your friends?" she asked sympathetically. Hermione nodded, grimacing. "Hermione, I've dated a lot more boys than you, no offense," Hermione grinned, "and there are two types of boys. There are boys who come running every time you call them, and they are _really _annoying. Being waited on hand and foot gets extremely old after a while. Then, there are boys who come when they feel like it. You just have to deal with it. They'll come."

"I know Ron will be here. Soon, hopefully. He's probably just off playing _more_ Quidditch; he was really disappointed by the last match. But I'm not so sure about Harry. He hasn't spent more than about five minutes with either of us before Cho's shown up and they've gone off somewhere together. It's been two weeks!" Hermione knew she sounded whiney. She needed to be logical. "Anyways," she muttered, "I have work to do. Thanks, Ginny."

"No problem. Bye." She shrugged and left Hermione alone, thinking. She supposed Harry wouldn't always want to spend all his time with Cho, without any of his other friends. Cho was sweet and smart and pretty, but she wasn't _everything_.

With a sigh, she turned back to her runes, but, finally, Ron burst into the library. His fiery hair was wet and stuck out in all directions from the driving rain outside and his robes were muddy. He grinned when he saw her. "I've been looking all over for you!" he said, too loudly. Madam Pince, the librarian, glared menacingly at him around Hermione's slightly bushy, mahogany hair. Hermione, in her proper library voice, remarked, "Where did you expect me to be?"

"Well," he began, and Hermione, sensing a long story, settled into her chair as he sat in the one Ginny had vacated, "I saw Harry and Cho coming down the stairs, the ones with the two invisible steps. I was kind of surprised that you weren't with them, actually. But, then again, they'd probably start snogging in the middle of the corridor, and no one wants to witness _that,_" he shuddered. "Anyway, I asked if they had seen you, and Cho said you'd been in the corridor near the Room of Requirement, even though Harry said he hadn't seen you all afternoon, the git." Funny, Hermione hadn't thought either of them had noticed her. They could have said hi, at the very least. "So," Ron went on, "I thought you might have gone in there, you know, to get some book you couldn't find in the library or something. Then, I thought you might have gone down to the common room when you weren't there, but you weren't _there_ either. Then, Ginny said you were in the library, where I would have gone next anyways, mind you, but here I am!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "And your hair is still wet?" she teased.

He sighed dramatically. "It _never_ dries."

She laughed, but then turned away sadly. "Missing Harry?" Ron guessed.

"He's my friend," she replied, "and he never has time for anyone but Cho anymore. She's nice and all, but…" she trailed off.

"Yeah." Ron gave her a sweet kiss, and Hermione smiled. "Actually," commented Ron, "I don't really know her all that well. I've just heard Harry talk about her- and talk about a biased opinion there! According to him, Cho is the perfect girl who can do no wrong."

Hermione looked thoughtful. "Maybe that's the problem," she mused.

"What, that Cho is the most amazing person in the whole world?"

"No. That we don't really know her. And Harry always hangs around with her and her crowd, but not us. Cho doesn't really know us, either, so she's understandably more comfortable with her own friends."

"And Harry will give her anything," Ron remarked.

"Right. So if we all spend some time together, she'll be more comfortable with us and she and Harry can hang out with us as well," Hermione reasoned.

"But they're _together_," protested Ron, sounding disgusted.

"So are we. Try to be a little more mature, please, Ron. Or don't you ever want to see Harry for more than five minutes again in your life? He's your friend, too."

"But… oh, all right. But you get to think of how you're going to round up the whole gang for a big, happy get together_. I'm_ not."

"Ron, I can always think of something," Hermione retorted, and, shoving her books into her bag and swinging it over her shoulder, she made for the library door. "I'll talk to him right now. You may want to start on that essay for Snape," she called back to him. Madam Pince made furious hushing gestures at her as she marched out, feeling much more cheerful now that she had a plan.


	2. The 3 Broomsticks and Getting Along

"Harry…"Hermione said casually, her back to the Gryffindor common room's fireplace.

"Hmmmm…" Harry said absently.

In a much sharper tone, Hermione tried again. "_Harry_."

He looked up from his parchment, startled. "What?" Hermione saw that he'd been doodling the name 'Cho' over and over again in the margins of his essay. Looking very embarrassed, he quickly covered up the parchment. Pretending she hadn't noticed anything, Hermione kept talking casually. "I was thinking that it might be fun if we all got together at the Three Broomsticks this weekend in Hogsmeade."

Harry was looking hesitant. "Who is 'we', exactly?" he asked warily.

"You know, you, and me, and Ron."

Harry still seemed undecided.

"And Cho, too, of course," Hermione added quickly.

"Well…Cho and I kind of had some plans."

"I thought you might," she admitted. "But it would only be about half and hour. Forty-five minutes at most. And we do have the whole day off. We could meet, say, for lunch."

"Well…" he said again. "Cho and I were going to go to Madam Puddifoot's around lunch time, actually."

Hermione thought for a moment. She really wanted her plan to work. She knew that Ron would be in a much better mood if he and Harry acted like friends again instead of people who were friendly, but not really very close. So would she, for that matter. She had to find the solution. "Harry, you hate Madam Puddifoot's," she reminded him.

"Well, yeah," he said ruefully. "But Cho really likes it, so I agreed to go."

Hermione supposed it was probably a lost cause to try and talk him out of going to the coffee shop. "Okay," she said slowly. "Well, you could go earlier, of later. We could meet some other time that day."

"All right," Harry nodded, "I'll talk to Cho about it."

"Thanks, Harry," Hermione said gratefully. "Let me know."

"Sure. Let's go, it's almost time for dinner."

hphphphphphphp

That weekend, Ron and Hermione, huddled in their cloaks under the iron gray sky and fierce wind, stomped up the steps into the Three Broomsticks. Harry and Cho were already there; Cho was looking nervous, Harry like it was any other Hogsmeade weekend with his friends. They sat down, and Harry went to order four butterbeers. The rest of them sat, fidgeting uncomfortably, until he returned. When he did, carrying their drinks, they all drank and talked. At first, it was stiff, formal, but soon, the atmosphere lightened, and they were joking and laughing like they had all been friends forever.

When they were done, they all stood and began wrapping themselves in their cloaks.

"Would you like to come to Honeydukes with me, Hermione?" Cho questioned tentatively.

"That would be great!" the other girl enthused. When Harry looked torn, Hermione suggested, "How about you two go to Zonko's?"

Ron jumped excitedly. "Yeah! They have some new tricks that are _almost_ as good as Fred and George's!"

"Go on, Harry," said Cho. "Have fun."

Harry nodded, looking happier, and the two boys headed out the door to the joke shop. The girls turned to each other and smiled in the same, anxious-to-please way, and followed.

"He really likes you," Hermione remarked to Cho.

"Yeah."

Hermione could hear more coming. "What about you?"

"I really like him, too," Cho said simply as she pushed open the door to Honeydukes, the sweet shop. She smiled and turned the subject around. "Ron is really nice. I can see why you like him."

Hermione grinned, too. "I'm surprised he was so decent today, really. He hasn't been too happy since Harry… started spending less time with us."

Cho looked chagrined. "I'm really sorry about that," she apologized. "I was so nervous about what you would think of me. It was easier to stay with my own crowd. I was being a prat, I guess."

"No," Hermione protested. "I understand. Don't worry about it." She received a heartfelt "Thanks," in reply as she stooped to see the price of some sugar quills.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx


	3. A Pair of BreakUps

Over the next few weeks, Harry and Cho divided their time between being together and being with their friends. Hermione had relayed Ginny's views of boys who give their girlfriends anything to Harry, so he had a bit more time to spare. But, while Harry and Cho's relationship was still going strong, Ron and Hermione's was going downhill. About three weeks after the meeting in the Three Broomsticks, Hermione knew that it just wasn't good enough to maintain. It wasn't that they had gotten into more fights than usual, but to Hermione, the kisses and touches between her and Ron felt more like habit than real passion or comfort. It simply wasn't working.

After lunch that day, Garry and Cho went to the library to work on a History of Magic essay, but Hermione led Ron to and empty corridor near a portrait of three monks.

"Ron," she began, "I… This isn't working." Ron didn't look surprised at this, but he did look upset.

"Yeah."

"So," continued Hermione, her voice catching, " I'm really sorry, but I think it's time to… break up."

Ron looked even unhappier at this. "I guess you're right," he said sadly. " But we'll still be friends, right?"

Hermione liked at him oddly for a moment. "Ron," she said finally, " that is _so_ cliché."

" I know, " he grinned a little. " But…" the question was still in his eyes.

" Of course," she reassured him.

They both looked like they were about to cry. "Well," Ron said, trying to be consoling, "it was fun while it lasted, right?"

"Right." He hugged her.

Later that day, Hermione sat on a desk in an empty classroom on the third floor, gloomily twirling her wand. It made rippling patterns on the surface of the desk.

"Hello, Mudblood." Hermione looked up. It was Malfoy, of course. "Looking a bit down on your luck, Granger," he commented nastily.

"Yep."

"I heard that you and the Weasel broke up. Looks like mudbloods aren't good enough even for blood traitors, now."

"Guess so." Hermione wasn't in the mood for fighting. Who cared what Malfoy thought?

The fight suddenly seemed to go out of him as well. "Guess we're even. Then. Pans broke up with me today."

"Maybe she has more sense than I thought." Hermione muttered. She thought of the pug-faced Slytherin girl and questioned why anyone would _want_ to go out with her, even a low-life like Malfoy.

"Dunno." Hermione wondered why he was telling her this. Why did he care if she knew why would _she _care?

"Tell me," she said musingly, "Was Pansy born with a face like that or did she run into the barrier at the train station a few times before making it through to the Hogwart's Express?" Malfoy smirked. Hermione kept going. "With the amount of magical talent she has, I'm surprised she made it through at all."She stood, swinging her bag over her shoulder. "Well, bye."

"See you around, Granger."

What was _that_? She wondered as she walked off. The first part, the remarks on her bloodline, had been pure Malfoy. But the rest? A real conversation between a Slytherin and a Gryffindor was practically unheard of. She had no idea what to make of it.

When Hermione got back to the common room after classes that day, Harry liked like he knew about Hermione and Ron's break up, but he didn't say anything about it, for which Hermione was grateful. They did their homework in silence, except for the occasional time when Ron of Harry would ask of clarification of a small detail or the spelling of a word. When dinner came, they packed up and quietly headed to the Great Hall. Cho came over to sit by Hermione while they ate. The girls had become good friends over the last few weeks.

" I heard you and Ron broke up," the Ravenclaw said softly. "I'm so sorry!"

"Thanks, Cho," Hermione replied sincerely. "It was only a matter of time. I'll get over it." Cho hugged her around the shoulders and, sensing that her friend would rather not talk just then, turned to Harry and started up a conversation about Quidditch.

That night, Hermione lay in her bed, but didn't sleep. Around two in the morning, she felt her bed bounce as someone sat down on it.

"When Harry broke up with me, I cried every night for two weeks," Ginny's voice said quietly out of the darkness.

Amazed , Hermione asked, "How did you know I was awake?"

"I kind of figured. Breaking up sucks."

Hermione buried her face in her hands. "It was my fault. _I_ broke up with him." Ginny didn't say anything. "What if I made the wrong choice?" Hermione continued. "What if I shouldn't have?"

"Give it time," Ginny consoled her. "Once again, breaking up sucks. You'll be able to see why you broke up in the first place later. Maybe you'll even be grateful."

Hermione snorted.

"Really."

"'K. Thanks."

"Night."

"Night."

The next morning, Hermione, after very little sleep, dragged herself out of bed, into her robes, and down to breakfast, where her friends had already started eating.

"'Morning, Hermione." Harry and Cho said, while Ron mumbled something that sounded like "Morning," as well.

"'Morning," she yawned back, sitting down and buttering a piece of toast. The rest of them talded about classes and work, while Hermione tuned it out and liked around the Great Hall. She noticed that Ron was looking tired, and that he didn't really join in the morning conversation, either. She also saw that Malfoy was sitting between Crabbe and Goyle, looking sullen. Pansy was at the other end of the Slytherin table, next to Blaise Zabini and Millicent Bullstrode, action for all the world like nothing had happened, especially a break-up with her precious Malfoy.

Harry followed her line of sight, and looked startled. "Looks like Pansy and Malfoy split up," he commented.

"Yeah," supplied Hermione, "I heard they had."

Cho cut in. "That's odd. Pansy practically worships the ground Malfoy walks on."

"I was wondering about that, too," Hermione said. She was, but she was more curious about the fact that it was Malfoy himself who had told her.

Ron joined in. "I heard Malfoy telling her that she followed him around too much, and they couldn't spend every minute together. I couldn't hear what she said back, but he looked really annoyed."

Hermione tilted her head. "From what I heard, _she_ broke up with _him_."

"Did they break up?" asked Cho, "or are they just taking a break? She looks awfully cheerful for someone who lost a boyfriend." She cast a subtle look at the dark circles under Hermione's eyes.

"No, I'm pretty sure they broke up," Hermione said firmly.

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A/N: Please review! Sorry this chapter took so long, but I've been so busy writing I never have time to type. Also, my ancient computer doesn't have a USB port, so I can't type at school. I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can.


	4. An Unexpected Conversation

Hermione went back to the classroom after lunch again that day, wondering if Malfoy was there. She knew she should be studying and that she was crazy to _hope_ he would be there, but she went anyways. As it turned out, he _was_ there, sitting on the desk she had been on the day before. She dropped her bag and sat on a table nearby.

"Pansy looked awfully happy today for someone who just broke up with her boyfriend," she commented as if this were something she did every day. Malfoy looked thrown off by Hermione's remark and casual manner.

"Er, yeah, I guess so."

"Why did she? She _adores_ you. She followed you _everywhere_. Does she have a personality disorder of something?"

"Of course not," Malfoy looked uncomfortable. "We just… that was the problem. She never left me alone! We had some rows about it, but I didn't think she'd just _end_ it." He blinked as if coming out of a daze. "Why am I telling you this?" he asked, more to himself than to Hermione.

She shrugged. "I asked a question and you answered it. Isn't that the way it's supposed to work?"

"Yes, but you're a Gryffindor!" he sputtered. "And a m-"

"If you say that you won't talk to me because I'm a _mudblood_," Hermione said calmly, " I will hex you into next month."

"Well, it's true!"

"No, it's prejudice, and it's stupid. I doubt that your whole family is pureblood. There aren't enough to keep the line going for long. I bet one of your grandparents came from a muggle family."

"Fine," Malfoy said reluctantly. He did have muggle born relatives. Then, more surprisingly, he said, "You're right."

Hermione tried not to show it, but she was surprised, and pleased. She didn't know why. Then, they heard a call from the corridor. "Hermione? Are you there?" Draco's eyes widened and he disappeared out the back door of the classroom.

"Yeah," Hermione replied after making sure he was gone. She didn't know what Ron and Harry would think if they found Hermione and Draco Malfoy alone together and not throwing curses at each other, but talking, almost, as friends, or at least allies.

Ron and Harry burst into the room, soon followed by Cho.

"Where were you?" Ron asked, "We looked everywhere! The common room, the library, Hagrid's house, the hospital wing; you weren't _anywhere_!"

"Well, obviously, I was here," Hermione replied, only a little tart.

"Yes, well, why are you here?" Ron asked.

"Uh, well, 'cause the library was getting crowded."

"It was empty when we got there," Cho replied

"Yeah, it's a library. Besides, your books aren't out," said Ron.

"Umm… I put them away when I heard you coming," Hermione said.

"Yeah, right. You never waste a moment you could be studying," Harry rolled his eyes.

"Uh…" Hermione began, searching for words, "I had a change of heart." And before anyone could object, she scooped her bag up and marched past them. "Come on. It's almost time for potions, and Snape will kill us if we're late."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione slid into their seats just as Snape swept into the dungeon. If they had been thirty seconds later, they would have gotten detention. As it was, they were only just in time. O was already in his seat, in between Crabbe and Goyle, looking blankly at the potions textbook in front of him.

Snape sneered nastily at Hermione, Ron, and Harry as he billowed by. Hermione knew he would have loved to put them in detention. He swept his wand at the blackboard on the wall, making a neat list of ingredients and instructions appear on it.

"Who," he asked, swirling around to face the class, "can tell me what these instructions, if followed _properly_, will produce?" Hermione's hand, as usual, was up in an instant. Snape looked coldly around the room. "Nobody," he concluded. "How pathetic."

"Sir," Hermione began, feeling very annoyed at being ignored, even by her least favorite teacher.

"I do not recall asking you to be an interrupting know-it-all, Granger," Snape snapped. "Five points from Gryffindor."

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Harry scowling angrily at his book, but she was more interested in the silence that followed this pronouncement. She was used to hearing laughter on the numerous occasions when Snape took points from her house. She remembered that the laughter was usually Draco's. Harry seemed to notice the quiet as well.

"Malfoy's acting odd today," he commented.

" Five more points for talking out of turn, Potter," Snape hissed. "I want _silence_. Don't make me say it again."

A few days later, there was an incident. Hermione and Draco were about to leave the classroom, though Hermione still couldn't quite figure out why she came at all, when Ron and Harry ad burst in. Draco hurried out the back door, but not unnoticed.

"What was _that_?" Ron hissed at Hermione.

"I was working," Hermione replied coolly.

"With _him _there?" asked Harry incredulously.

"Of course not, Harry," she snapped. "He walked through. Probably a short cut or something. Don't look at me like that!"

"It looked like he had just stood up," Ron pressed.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Ron. You're imagining things."

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A/N: So, that last bit was a bit pointless, sorry. Review! I need your feedback! More coming soon!


	5. Just a Little Fall

Hermione kept going to the classroom in between lunch and potions, and Draco was always there. At first, she wondered why he always came, or why _she_ did. Once, she fiercely asked herself what her parents would say if they knew that she was… friends?… with a Slytherin. But then she remembered that her parents were muggles, and, no matter how much she loved them, they didn't really understand Hogwarts's system of housing and wouldn't get it even if she told them.

Harry, Ron, and Cho were clearly getting suspicious, though. They kept asking why she always went to that particular room to study and not the library. Finally, Cho tried to come along with Hermione on her way to her daily meeting with Draco. Hermione had quickly lied, saying that she was, in fact, heading for the library. Then, she had to go there, keeping Cho's questions at bay until they had to leave for class. This happened again the next day. And the day after that.

Finally, Hermione had her chance to hurry off after lunch to the classroom. She opened the door and saw Draco sitting with his back to her, on a desk. She caught her breath, set down her bag, and walked toward him, unable to repress a smile. He didn't show if he heard her or not.

"Hello," Hermione said tentatively.

"What's it been? A couple weeks?" he asked stonily.

Hermione was taken aback. "_What?_"

"That you've blown me off?"

"I didn't blow you off!" she cried, stung. "And it was a few _days_, not weeks."

"Fine," he snapped. "Then why did you _forget_ for _a few days_?"

"I didn't forget. They're getting nosy." They both knew who she meant. "I mean," she continued, "I _could _have dragged Cho here, but that might have been a _bit_ of a disaster." She was getting mad.

"It might have been better than sitting here on my own for_ ages_, wondering where the _hell_ you could be."

In a much quieter tone, she asked, "You care that I'm here?"

"Why else would _I_ be here?" Her eyebrows raised in shock. "It's time to go," he mumbled, not meeting her eyes and scowling. "We'll be late for class." He retreated out of the room as quickly as he could, almost leaving his books behind him. Hermione stared after him in astonishment. When she had recovered enough to check the time, she still had half an hour before the start of potions.

The next day, after Hermione had shaken off Ron, she slid in the door to the classroom. It was empty she sat on a desk, unhappy, but not surprised. _Why am I thinking about him? At all?_ she thought. _This is ridiculous. _She stood, swinging her bag over her shoulder. _He's not coming. He doesn't care. And I shouldn't care either. I don't care. _But she couldn't forget his words, "Why else would _I_ be here?" And Hermione didn't have an answer. She had no idea why he should be there. She shook her head and stood impatiently, stomping toward the door, not really paying attention to where she was going. Her foot caught on the leg of a chair, and she flew down, her head cracking on the corner of a desk. Her vision blacked out as she hit the floor.

About ten minutes later, Draco rounded the corner of the corridor that led to the classroom. If Hermione had been conscious, she would have wondered why he was there. He looked irritable. For whatever reason, he stalked to the door Hermione was lying behind.

"What am I doing?" he muttered. "She probably just blew me off again." Then, he caught sight of one of the books that had fallen when Hermione had. His brow furrowed and he walked faster, looking confused. He tried to push open the door she had closed behind her, but it was blocked by Hermione's leg. He squeezed through the small opening he had made. When he got inside, he stared at the fallen Hermione in horror.  
"Oh, hell," he whispered. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't just leave her there. But if he took her _anywhere_ while she was like this… he stopped that thought forcefully, scooped the girl into his arms, and took off running down the corridor to the hospital wing.

He had just raced down his second flight of stairs, his arms aching with Hermione's weight, when Ron burst out from a nearby door, almost colliding with Draco.

"Malfoy!" he bellowed. "What the bloody hell did you do to my girlfriend?"

Draco's face paled even more than usual with anger as he hissed, "Girlfriend? You broke up with her nearly three weeks ago."

"Get your bloody hands off her!"

"I wasn't going to _kill_ your _girlfriend," _Draco said the title with loathing. "But I suppose it is a bit hard to duel when your wand arm isn't free. And don't jinx me now," he warned. "What if you hit her?" He carefully set her down on the floor, making sure her body wasn't twisted. He had a look on his face that he never would have let Hermione see if she _could_ see. It had worry in it, but it was more than that. Ron noticed, though, and glared.

"Hurry up, or I will curse you."

"Well, I could, if you really want her to break a couple bones to match her head." Ron was still glowering as Draco stood and pulled out his wand. They began circling each other.

"What were you doing with a _mudblood_, anyways?" Ron taunted. Draco opened his mouth furiously, but Hermione stirred.

"Ron?" she asked. Her head felt fuzzy. Then, she noticed the other boy standing there. "Draco? What happened?"

Draco turned, the worried look back on his face, and started towards her. "You-"

But Ron got there first. "This absolute git cursed you."

"What? No I- " Draco began heatedly

"Shut up, Malfoy."

"No," Hermione protested. "I think… I think I fell?" When she looked up again, Draco was gone.

"Maybe because he pushed you," Ron snorted.

"No. I tripped." Hermione could recall the scene now, although her head throbbed like crazy.

Just then, Harry rushed from a nearby corridor, followed closely by Cho.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, panting. "Colin Creevy said something about Malfoy and Hermione?"

"Oh, no! Hermione!" Cho squeaked. "Your head! We have to get you to the hospital wing right now! What happened?"

"Malfoy jinxed her," Ron cut in.

"No, he didn't," Hermione said, starting to get annoyed. " I tripped and hit my head. It had nothing to do with Dra- Malfoy. And I'm fine. I don't need the hospital wing." This was a complete lie, but Hermione didn't want anyone fussing over her.

"Yes, you do," Cho replied, touching the back of Hermione's head. Her hand came away covered in blood. "Right now."

Cho took her left arm, Harry took her right, and Ron hovered behind nervously as they hoisted Hermione up and helped her to Madam Pomfrey's assistance.

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A/N: This chapter wasn't quite what I expected, but I hope you liked it. As always, please review. The next chapter will be out as soon as I can type it.


	6. Falling Again

A/N This was longer than I expected, just to warn you. But it's totally worth it, trust me.

The next day, the bandages around Hermione's head were off, and she felt much better. She had had to stay the night in the hospital wing, but had only put up minimal fuss about it. That morning, Madam Pomfrey had tried to convince her to stay one more night, but Hermione had insisted that she felt fine.

In the Great Hall that day, Ron was pestering Hermione with questions.

"Are you okay? Oh, I guess Madam Pomfrey can heal anything, but still."

"I'm fine, Ron."

"What was Malfoy doing?"

Hermione decided to play dumb. "Malfoy? What do you mean?"

"He was_ carrying_ you," Ron sounded disgusted.

"I'm sure he was just being nice. I was knocked out, you know." Too late, Hermione realized what she had said.

"Malfoy? Nice? Ha. Ha. Ha. _Funny,_ Hermione."

"That's not what I- "

"Come on." Harry slid out of his seat nearby. "We've got a lot of work to do."

In the common room, Harry and Ron grudgingly got out their books, but Hermione fidgeted.

"You know? I think I'll go to the library. It'll be quieter," she said.

"Okay," Ron replied. "We'll come with you."

"No, that's okay, Ron. It won't be a lot of fun."

"Really," he insisted. "Harry and I want to come." So, they all headed off to the library, Hermione still protesting feebly that they didn't need to be there.

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Ron trailed Hermione for three days. Finally, she got so impatient that she shook him off after lunch with a lie about needing to use the bathroom. While he waited outside the door, she slipped out the back door of the bathroom and ran to the empty classroom.

Draco's back was to her.

"Before you ask," she panted, trying to catch her breath, "I did not blow you off. You have no _idea_ how clingy some people can be."

She heard a tiny smile in his voice. "I'm assuming you're talking about the Weasel."

"He's really not that bad. He's just worried about me. He's my friend."

"What about me?" he asked softly, still facing away.

Hermione froze. "What?"

"What am I?"

"My friend," she replied, only a little hesitant.

He nodded slowly. "Friend," he whispered. "Time to go. Doesn't do to be late."

She caught a glimpse of his face as he left. It was surprised, and happy.

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The next day, Hermione managed to slip away again. Ron would be really angry with her for ditching hem two days in a row, but she thought it was worth it. This time, when she got to the classroom, Draco was facing her. His face relaxed as she walked in.

She grinned. "Hey."

He smiled, too. "Hello."

Hermione dropped her deadly heavy bag and rolled her aching shoulder. "God, I'm exhausted," she yawned. "Getting a concussion really takes it out of you."

Draco laughed. "Well, what did you expect?"

"Good point." She walked over and sat next to him on the desk he was on. He blinked, but looked pleased and made room for her.

Hermione closed her eyes and leaned her head on his shoulder. Now Draco looked positively shocked, but he didn't move away.

"This is new," he said, sounding almost nervous, but trying not to.

"Mmm-hmmm." Hermione yawned again. Then, to her astonishment, Draco wrapped his arms around her and put his chin on her head. Her eyes opened and she looked up at him. He looked so content. She closed her eyes again. She could fall asleep here, so warm and comfortable in his arms…

The door burst open with a bang. "Her- HERMIONE!?!" Ron bellowed. Behind him were Harry, Cho, and Ginny. Hermione reacted instinctively. She tore away from Draco and raced to the door, shoving past them, leaving her bag behind. She darted down the corridor, away from everyone. Where could she go? Not the library; that was too obvious. Not the hospital wing, or Hagrid's hut. So she just ran. Sooner or later, she found herself at the portrait of the fat lady guarding Gryffindor tower. She gasped the password and scrambled in, dashing up the staircase to the girl's dormitory. Maybe they wouldn't think she would be stupid enough to come here. The boys couldn't come up the girl's staircase, and neither could Cho, since she wasn't in Gryffindor, but Hermione couldn't escape Ginny for long.

She was right. Not ten minutes later, Ginny climbed up the stairs and dropped Hermione's bag on the floor.

"And if she is there," Ron yelled from the common room, "tell her that if she ever comes down, I'll jinx her from here to America!"

"Yeah, Ron. Sure," Ginny called back. "I'll tell her." She turned to Hermione. "I guess you heard that. But he's right, you know. You have some explaining to do."

Hermione could barely hold it in. She was tempted to burst into tears. "Nobody gets it," she snapped harshly. " Nobody even _tries_ to understand. They just see it and judge. They're so bloody _prejudiced_!"

"Whoa, calm down, Hermione," Ginny soothed. "It's okay. I'm not judging." She held out her hands in a peace offering. "Not judging. Now, start from the beginning. Tell me." So Hermione did. She told Ginny about breaking up with Ron, and Draco's break up with Pansy. She talked about going to the classroom, and 'blowing off' Draco, and how pissed he'd been. She told her about falling and hitting her head and how Ron had been so clingy, and Draco had seemed so relieved that she was okay. She talked and talked and talked. She told Ginny everything. "Draco's not bad," she finished. "He's my friend."

"I have to say," Ginny replied dryly, "that that in the classroom looked like more than just friendship."

Hermione went scarlet. "That was just… I mean… what happened was…"

Ginny cut her off. "It's okay. I understand now. I don't know if it makes me like Malfoy any more, but I do get it."

"Thanks. But what about _them_?" Hermione pointed in the direction of the common room. "I don't think they care about why I did what I did. They just care that Draco is in Slytherin."

"I don't know. Cho will probably hear you out. She'd probably understand as well. And Harry would listen to Cho if she said that Snape is really a cool guy and the actual enemy is Professor Flitwick." Hermione smiled. "If you convince Cho, and I'm pretty sure you can, you convince Harry. I'm not so sure about Ron, though. If there is one thing I've learned about him by being his sister, it's that he only listens to people of they say what he wants to hear. I hat to say it, but I'm afraid you'll be fighting a long battle with that one," Ginny said.

Hermione sighed. "You're right. But I'm afraid to go down. I think Ron meant what he said about the jinx."

"You could always put up a shield charm as a precaution," Ginny told her. "I'll go down first and tell Ron that if he does any thing to you, I'll do my bat- bogey hex, and he'll be sorry."

She nodded, and Ginny went down, Hermione following. She heard Ginny talking softly to Ron, and then her name. She walked out and turned to Cho.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked the Ravenclaw girl. Cho seemed a bit taken aback, but nodded. Ron was looking daggers at Hermione, as was Harry.

Hermione climbed out of the portrait hole and stood next to Cho in the corridor. And she talked. She told her everything she had told Ginny. And Cho _did_ understand.

"I felt sort of the same way when I started going out with Harry," she said. "Everyone in my house thought I was crazy. I know that it isn't really the same, but I'll talk to Harry, okay?"

"Thanks, Cho," Hermione said gratefully.

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A/N I need more reviews! I've only gotten about 4, and that's less than one per chapter! Come on, people! I'm sorry I had to spoil such a perfect Hermione/Draco moment! I actually stopped typing for about ten minutes because I wanted it to just go on and on. But don't worry! There are more coming up! The next chapter will be coming up soon, with another trip to the hospital. Review!


	7. A Jinxed Kiss

Harry wasn't too happy with Hermione's story, even after Cho had explained it to him. But at least he didn't put up too much of a fuss. Ron, however, wouldn't listen to anyone, thought they were all crazy, and was refusing to speak to Hermione at all. she acted as if nothing had happened, though she couldn't pretend that it wasn't a relief to not have to come up with an excuse to sneak away after lunch.

Draco was surprised to see her in the classroom the next day.

"I guess it was more than wishful thinking when I came here," he remarked. "I thought they would've locked you up."

"I'm lucky they didn't." she laughed slightly. "Ron was trying. Ginny had to restrain him."

"What about the others?" he asked.

Hermione shrugged. "Girls are more understanding than boys."

"Potter is a boy."

"But he has Cho. And people are more open to reason when they aren't under the delusion that they're 'with' somebody who 'betrayed' them."

He considered that for a moment, and was about to say something, but the bell rang. Toe one that told them that they had one minute to get to class. Snape wouldn't punish Draco for being late, but Hermione would get detention. They dashed down the corridor, not even bothering to split up.

They slid into their seats, panting, just as the late bell rang. Snape scowled at Hermione contemptuously. She looked away and busied herself with finding her potions book. She fingered through her bag, but the book she needed wasn't there. Frantically, she scrambled through her things again, but no luck. She couldn't _believe_ it. She _never_ forgot_ anything_! Someone cleared his throat. He did it again. And again. Finally, Hermione looked up. Draco was staring absently at Snape. On his desk was his potions book. In his hand… dangled a potions book.

"Come and get the ingredients for Veritiserum." Snape was drawling. Draco's eyes flashed to Hermione's for a split second and she nodded a fraction of an inch. There was a scuffle as everyone stood to grab the materials they needed and got their caldrons out. Hermione walked quickly over to Draco, whispered, "Thanks," and hurried to join everyone else.

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Potions was over at last. "I thought that that would never end," Hermione muttered to Harry as they left.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor!" Harry raged. "He's mad!"

Draco slid in beside Hermione. "Could've been worse," he said. "He was in a good mood today."

Hermione gave him a shove. "Are you crazy?" she asked. "What will everyone think when you start having civil conversations with the Mudblood?"

"Good point." He fell back, rejoining the other Slytherins.

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The next day, Hermione had a free period before Charms, then Transfiguration, then lunch. She was impatient for a reason she couldn't understand. When (finally!) lunch ended, she rushed to the empty classroom. Draco laughed when he saw her face, so anxious, and her hair, for _once_ it wasn't frizzy, streaming out behind her. Hermione laughed too, impatience melting away.

"Someday," he said as she walked over, "I'm going to invent a potion that calms people down. Or speeds them up," he teased. "You took forever!"

"Hey!" she objected. "I bet you only just got in here yourself! And besides, both those potions have already been invented. A witch from Romania-" He cut her off, placing two fingers over her lips. She shut up fast. He pulled his hand away, eyes sparkling. Hermione felt disappointed; she wished he had kept them there longer. Quite a bit longer. She rolled her eyes and looked out the window at the cloud-covered sky, trying to hide what she felt. She had given up on trying to convince herself that she didn't care about Draco Malfoy, but she highly doubted he felt _that_ way about her. _Even after… before?_ Asked a part of her mind. She told it to shut up. Why should he? He was amazing and popular and perfect, in Slytherin at least. She was a frizzy-haired know-it-all.

"You look very nice," Draco was saying. Hermione started in surprise.

"You're just saying that," she said when she had regained some composure. She fingered her hair. She still saw it as frizzy, even though it had smoothed down to curls over the past year.

"No, really," he replied. "I mean it." He reached over and twirled one of her curls in his fingers. At that moment, a ray of sunlight slanted through the clouds and illuminated half of his face, leaving the rest in shadow. Hermione's breath caught as he turned his eyes to her face. He was just so incredibly beautiful.

"When did this happen?" he whispered. He was so close.

Hermione kept very still. "I don't know." Very carefully, he tilted her chin up and kissed her. His lips were soft as he pulled his arms around her, pressing his body into hers. She was shivering all over as she kissed him back. She was hot where her body touched his, and her arms went around his neck.

"HERMIONE!" Total déjà vu spread through Hermione at Ron's bellow. She pulled away from Draco, frantic if totally unwilling. "WHAT THE HELL-" she ducked, and the jinx Ron had aimed, not very well, sailed strait over her head and hit Draco full in the chest. He fell back, tumbling to the ground.

Hermione _freaked_ out. "RONALD WEASLEY YOU _BASTARD!!" _ she roared. "I will KILL you if you hurt him!!! I will hex you into next MONTH!!!" He backed away, looking almost as wrathful as she felt.

"You were _snogging_!" he yelled in disgust.

"YOU THINK," Hermione kept advancing, "that you can just march in here and ruin EVERYTHING just when I'm HAPPY?!?"

"WHAT?!?"

"I HATE YOU!!!" She was so furious she couldn't think. She raised her hand and hit him across the face, so hard a red mark appeared. "Get OUT! I never want to see you AGAIN!!!" Hermione in this mood was someone no one wanted to even _try_ to beat. Ron scrambled for the door.

Hermione turned back to Draco's limp body, shaking and calculating. There was no way she could carry him. Instead, she levitated hem behind her and made her way to the hospital wing, still muttering, "I will _kill_ him," under her breath.

Madam Pomfrey have her an odd look when Hermione said that there had been an accident in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but didn't say anything. She poured a nasty-smelling liquid down Draco's throat and left to sit in her office. Hermione sat in a chair near his bed, waiting anxiously. When he opened his eyes five long minutes later, he smirked at her apprehensive look.

"Miss me?" he asked.

"God. Some people." She leaned back, closing her eyes.

"Did you kill the Weasel for me yet?"

"Don't think I haven't tried."

He grinned.

"I'll go get Madam Pomfrey and tell her you've woken up," she told him sweetly.

He sighed. "And I'll have to drink something nasty."

"And it'll make you feel better."

"I'm _fine_."

She stood. "I'll be right back."

"Do you have to?"

"Yep." She knocked on the door of the office and it opened. "He's awake now."

"Good," Madam Pomfrey said, walking towards draco's bed. "Drink this." He made a face, but gulped the potion down quickly.

"Can I leave now?" he begged.

She looked disapproving, but said, "Fine. _Try_ not to overextend yourself for the rest of the day."

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. "Yes, ma'am."

At dinner, Hermione and Ron were both fuming. Harry, Ginny, and Cho had no idea what was going on.

"What's with Ron?" Cho asked Hermione.

"He's being a complete git, just like always," she replied loudly.

"Oh, so now _I'm_ the git?" Ron asked, outraged.

"Yes, you are."

"I didn't do _anything_! It was you snogging him!"

Harry, Cho, and Ginny all exclaimed, "_What?_" at the same time

"You _jinxed_ him. If I wouldn't get arrested, I would _kill_ you for that. I still want to kill you for it."

"Who?" Cho asked commandingly.

"That bloody git Malfoy," Ron snapped. Nobody looked surprised, but Harry's face tightened.

"Have you lost your mind?" he asked angrily. "And Ron is the one who's wrong?"

"I thought we discussed this. Cho explained it to you," Hermione said crossly.

"I don't want you kissing that… him."

"It's not up to you to decide what I do or net with whoever I like."

Ginny cut in. "Quit it, all of you." She looked at Hermione. "I may not like it but," she turned to Harry and Ron, "she's right."

"What?!?"

"It's none of your business. Hermione can look after herself."

"He's messing with her!" Ron snapped. "And she believes him!"

"He is not!" Hermione retorted hotly. "I know what I'm doing."

"No, you don't!"

She threw up her hands in disgust. "You don't know the first thing about it!?

"Enlighten me."

"No. You don't deserve it. Try to be a decent person, would you, Ron? But until you can learn to do that, forget it." She stalked out of the Great Hall.

A/N: This was longer than I expected, but I cut almost a page. Please, as always, review! Oh, and I know that Hermione had a slight overreaction there, but writing in all caps for a while was pretty fun. Just a warning: next chapter will be depressing! And short. Review review review!


	8. A MisDelivered Letter

A/N: I am so sorry this chapter took so long! I had an overload of homework for the last two weeks, and I didn't have time to write. Anyway, enjoy!

Life went on for all of them. It wasn't quite the same, though. Harry and Ron seemed almost afraid of Hermione, but Cho and Ginny tried so much to be what she needed. She was incredibly grateful to them. Still, she only had so much time to spend with Draco. He had kissed her a few more times, and each time, she felt dizzy and light and amazing. Every time, it kept her from focusing for the rest of the day.

Then, one morning, everything changed. At breakfast, when the post owls flew in to deliver the mail, a large barn owl crashed right into the back of Harry's head and to the floor.

"Ow!" Harry yelped, startled. Stooping, he managed to get the owl upright and on the table. He started to untie the letter from the owl's foot, but stopped, staring. "That's odd," he muttered.

"What?" Hermione asked.

He tilted the envelope so she could see the label.

Draco Malfoy

Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

England

"Go on!" Harry told the bird sharply. "It's that blond git over there you want, not me." The owl stared at him blankly. Hermione reached over impatiently to untie the letter. Then, she stood, shooed the owl up to the ceiling, and walked off. Nobody argued with her. They all knew that there was a reason the post arrived at breakfast. Urgent messages and all that. When she reached the Slytherin table, she tapped Draco's shoulder. He jumped and turned. When he saw Hermione, he scowled imposingly.

"What do you want, mudblood?" he snapped. She could tell he was acting. His eyes sparkled and his mouth was edging toward a smile. She kept her own face stiff as she answered, holding the letter out.

"You have a truly idiotic owl. You're just lucky it came to me and not one of the Hufflepuff wimps." Hermione didn't really have anything against Hufflepuffs, but she knew she had a point. If the letter had reached one of them, Draco never would have received it.

His eyes narrowed. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she retorted, spun on her heel, and marched away. As she passed the other tables on the way to Gryffindor's, she struggled against her desperate desire to laugh. When she sat down, she had gotten the emotion under control enough to finish eating.

Just as she finished and was about to leave, a blond figure walked quickly past her. Draco didn't look at or speak to her, but dropped the letter marked "Draco Malfoy" on the table in front of her and kept walking. Puzzled, she pulled out the parchment in the envelope and scanned it quickly.

"Dear Mr. Malfoy," it read.

"We are sorry to inform you that your father, Lucius Malfoy, passed away last night in Azkaban." Hermione froze. She stared at the parchment, completely disbelieving.

"No," her mouth formed the word. "No. Oh, God, no. Draco. No." She stood, shoving her seat away from the table and raced out of the Great Hall. The last thing she saw and heard was Ron leaning down to snatch the letter that had fallen to the floor and his very distinct, "Bloody hell."

Hermione tore after Draco. Unfortunately, he was a lot faster than she was and had a head start. When he had lost her completely, she made a frantic guess and rushed to the empty classroom they always met in. She was right; he was there, crouched on the floor, hands around his head. She didn't even try to think anything through. She walked over and put her arms around him. He was shaking hard enough to break apart.

"This can't happen," he whispered. "It _can't._"

She didn't contradict him. She held him, rocking back and forth.

They stayed like that for over an hour. Hermione knew she was missing classes. She knew she would be in trouble later, but she didn't care. The only thing that mattered was Draco. Finally, she stood and left. She could tell he wanted to be alone. She thought he would be okay, after a while. But as she walked away, she didn't hear his soundless scream. She couldn't see his heart shatter like a rose dipped in liquid nitrogen.

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A/N : I'm sorry this had to be so depressing! Thank you to all the amazing people who have reviewed this story. To everybody else, I need some input! Next chapter: another visit to the hospital wing (that really is becoming a very popular place.) And even more depressing-ness.


	9. A Little Jump

A/N: Sorry this took so long, but I was on vacation (no internet). Thank you so much, people who reviewed my last chapter! You're amazing! This is yet another depressing chapter, but trust me, it's important.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all the characters belong to JKR, not me (sadly). I just manipulate them.

It was almost a week later, and Draco had stopped talking. He never spoke, not in class or out, not to anyone. He didn't come by the empty classroom to see Hermione, and she was getting worried. She could feel the disaster coming, but she didn't know when, or what to do about it.

She was walking out of Transfiguration when she saw Draco walking away from her, and away from the normal route to his next class.

"Draco!" she called. "Where are you going?" Of course, he didn't answer, not since his vow of silence. She didn't bother trying to make him talk; her shout had been a reflex reaction. Instead, she followed hem. He was so freaking _fast,_ though and Hermione's bag weighed her down. Impatiently, she dropped it behind a suit of armor to grab later and raced on. She followed Draco up so many flights of stairs and winding passages that she felt dizzy. Finally, they hit a dead end. Draco slid through a door at the top of the last set of stairs. Hermione felt disoriented. Where were they? She took stock of her surroundings. Something smelled strange. _Oh, of course,_ she thought. That was the door to the owlry. Feeling better now that she wasn't lost, she went through the door after him. When he saw her, he jumped. Not just a little jump. He jumped out of the tower into the air, a thousand feet above the ground. Hermione went numb.

"Draco!" she screamed. She dashed to the window. She saw where he had fallen, so far below. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't feel anything. Because he hadn't fallen. He hadn't been surprised. He had jumped. On purpose. She fainted.

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Hermione woke up in the hospital wing. She wasn't bleary or dizzy. Everything was painfully clear. Ron, Harry, Cho, and Ginny were crowded around one side of her bed. On the other side was Madam Pomfrey. She looked relieved to see that Hermione was awake. Hermione didn't wait to hear what the nurse had to say relating to what she had to do to return to full health. She sat bolt upright, feeling panicky.

"Oh my God," Ron and Hermione said at the same time. He was relieved. She was frantic. "Is he okay? Is he-" she couldn't say 'dead'. Not Draco. Cho pointed to the bed across from Hermione's, knowing what she was asking about. It was surrounded by Slytherins. Hermione wondered how she could have missed the commotion. "_Is he going to be okay?"_

Madam Pomfrey grimaced. "It doesn't look good, but-"

Hermione shoved her way through the assembled Slytherins until she reached Draco. He was unconscious. Hes arm was bandaged and he had a long, thin cut stretching along his jawline. His whole face was bruised and scratched. He had obviously broken more than one bone.

"What's the mudblood doing here?" asked Pansy Parkinson's shrill voice.

Hermione glared at the girl. "I'm standing here staring at and unconscious boy and wondering what the_ hell_ I did to deserve this," she snapped as if explaining something to a bratty two year old. She turned to the bed. "Draco, you are such an idiot," she muttered under her breath.

She stayed there for two days. She didn't leave to eat or go to class and she slept for only a few hours in a chair she had dragged over to Draco's bed. There was a constant stream of Slytherins coming in to check on him. Most of them passed snide remarks to Hermione, who glared until they left. Ron brought her food after he had tried, and failed, to get her to leave.

Madam Pomfrey worked on Draco day and nigh, but he was still unconscious, and she was worried. She wasn't half as scared as Hermione, thought, who jumped at every movement, silently begging Draco to move.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, his eyelids fluttered.

"Hermione?" he whispered. She hit hem. She had been so scared, she felt like he deserved some punishment.

"Miss Granger!" cried Madam Pomfrey. "You might damage his health!"

"What was that for?" Draco asked. His voice was raw, his eyes pained.

"You will never," she hissed, "_never_ put me through that again. _Never._ Because if you do, I will… I'll… God." She put her head in her hands, trying not to cry.

"You would have gotten over it," he muttered.

She glared at him. "No, I wouldn't have. And don't you dare forget that again."

Madam Pomfrey cut in. "Don't get him upset. He needs to recover, and if you can't manage letting him do that, you will not be allowed back in here. Drink this." She thrust a goblet at Draco.

He wrinkled his nose. "I'll be fine without it." He really didn't sound good. His voice was cracked and harsh.

"_Now,"_ Madam Pomfrey insisted.

Draco took it, but didn't drink. "I feel fine, honestly."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Just drink the damn potion, would you Draco? I did _not_ sit here for two days just to watch you die."

"I'm not going to die," he protested. His heart wasn't really in it.

"And you had better not want to. How could you do that to me, Draco?" she whispered, close to tears again.

Just then, Ginny and Cho marched into the hospital wing. The hooked their arms into Hermione's and pulled her up.

"Come on," said Ginny.

"Wha- No!" Hermione cried. "I have to… I…"

"No, you don't," Cho told her firmly. "He's awake. He'll live. But you won't, not if you don't get some real food and about twelve hours of sleep."

Hermione was still protesting as they dragged her out of the hospital wing and up the stairs toward Gryffindor tower, faltering only when she saw Draco gulp the potion down, grimacing.

A/N: Please review! Again! I'll post the next chapter as soon as I have time, which might not be for a while. I'm working on a one shot and a story that's not for fanfic, so please be patient.


	10. Not So Inviting Invite

A/N: This took a lot less time than I expected, so here you are! Thanks to all my reviewers. You people are amazing!!! Oh, by the way, I kind of messed with time in this. I moved practically the whole 7th book back a year, so just pretend everything in their 7th year happened in their 6th, and this it their 7th.

About a week later, Hermione walked into the Great Hall where there was a huge commotion at the Slytherin table.

"Are you feeling better now, Draco?" she heard Pansy ask in her sniveling voice. As she moved closer, she could also hear Draco saying, "Yeah, I'm fine. Move, please. Yes, I'm _fine,_ Pansy, get out of my way. Now. _Move._" Hermione smiled slightly. That meant he was back to normal. He finally fought his way out of the crowd. She was only slightly jolted when he headed toward her. She saw Pansy's eyes follow his path to Hermione. You could practically see her turn green. Hermione tried to repress a smirk of her own to match Draco's. She smiled sweetly at Pansy and turned to Draco.

He sighed. "Guess the secret's out now." She glanced at the Gryffindor table. Some of her housemates were glaring. Others were gaping like a school of fish. "Yeah." She sighed, too. They were going to give her a really hard time about her relationship with Draco. "I know you must be really sick of this, but are you okay?" she asked.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm _fine._"

"That's not what I meant and you know it," she said crossly. "I know that Madam Pomfrey would never let you go in less than perfect condition. You know what I'm asking about."

"I'm better. Not great," he admitted. "But… okay, under the circumstances."

"You're not going to try your little stunt again, right?" She thought she had better make it clear that jumping off something high was no longer one of his options.

"Of course not, Hermione." He looked insulted that she'd even asked.

She relaxed. "Good. Well, I'd better go. I'm starving, and I have a quiz in Ancient Runes to study for."

"Okay. Bye." Draco wondered if Hermione_ ever_ thought she studied enough.

"Bye." They walked back to their tables. Harry and Ron glared at Hermione.

"What do you mean, running off to him like that?" Harry asked, outraged.

"I didn't 'run off to him'. I'm allowed to talk to anyone I like," she replied haughtily.

"You're a bloody idiot," Ron told her furiously.

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Two weeks later, Hermione was sitting a ways down the table at breakfast from Ron and Harry. Cho had talked to her before thy got into the Great Hall, but she was now sitting next to Harry. Ginny was across the table from Hermione. They sat in silence. Hermione, who was now, along with Draco, practically exiled from the rest of the students, was glad for Ginny's support. She knew Ginny had more accepted, and probably more fun, friends to hang out with, and was feeling eternally grateful to her. Hermione hadn't spoken to Ron or Harry for over a week and a half.

Draco was still a bit moody, but he was improving. She wasn't afraid of him jumping out another high window anytime soon. Hermione had felt totally useless for a long time. She had hated Lucius Malfoy, which made it hard to be comforting after he died. She remembered, shuddering, her second year, when he had almost gotten Ginny killed.

About half way through the meal, the post arrived. Hermione watched the owls swoop under the cloudy gray ceiling, not looking forward to walking through the snow to Herbology later. She was surprised, though, when a gray owl landed in front of her and stuck out it's leg. She unfastened the letter it carried, gave the owl a bit of bread, and shooed it away. It soared back to the ceiling as she opened her letter. She read it quickly, feeling similar to the way she had when she had read the letter informing Draco of his father's death.

"Dear Hermione,

We would love it if you stayed with us at the Burrow for Christmas. Arthur and I heard that your parents are in Australia, and Hogwarts is being closed for renovations over the holidays. It's all arranged. Don't worry about a thing. We look forward to seeing you!

Love,

Molly Weasley"

Hermione dropped her head into her arms and groaned. Ron was not going to take this well. And the worst part was, Mrs. Weasley was right. Hermione didn't have anywhere to go for the holidays. She grimaced and lifted her head. _Look forward to spending a couple weeks with Ron. Try not to get killed, _she told herself grimly. At least Ginny would be there. That offered a little protection at least. She glanced back down at the letter and noticed a P.S. "Harry will be coming as well. I'm sure you three will have a wonderful time. _Great,_ Hermione thought. _Another person to help with my murder._ She noticed Ginny looking worriedly at her.

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked. Hermione pushed the letter across the table and Ginny scanned it. "Ah," she said, biting her lip. " I see. Well, if all else fails, you could always move in with Bill and Fleur." Hinny's brother had gotten married the summer before, before Death Eaters had crashed the party. Then, Ginny scowled. "Never mind. I'll bet anything that Mum's invited them, too. Well, with any luck, Ron won't try killing you with Mum around.'

"Yeah, good luck with that," Hermione muttered. "I've got to go. See you later, Gin." She hurried off to Charms, knowing that she would be going to the Burrow for Christmas, whether she liked it or not.

A/N: Thank you again (and again and again) to my fabulous reviewers- if you didn't review, trust me, I would not be typing this story right now. And to everyone new reading this, REVIEW!!!!! Next chapter will be coming some time soon, with Christmas at the Burrow.


	11. A Pair of Pestering People

A/N: Thank you thank you to all my increadible reviewers! I didn't send everyone a message back, (that would take a lot more time than I have) but you are all the best! This is a fluff chapter, just so you know.

Hermione fell out of the fireplace into the Burrow's living room. Ginny caught her, stumbling slightly. Hermione hated flooing anywhere, but it was fast. Mrs. Weasley bustled forward, fluttering around her, brushing ash off Hermione's clothes, clucking about how thrilled she was to have Hermione there.

"Thanks," Hermione said politely. "It's good to see you, too." Apparently, Mrs. Weasley hadn't heard about Draco, thank goodness. It would make Hermione's stay at the Burrow that much easier.

But just then, Ron walked by. He didn't say anything, but glowered at Hermione as if she had murdered his sister. She turned away uncomfortably, but Mrs. Weasley noticed his look.

"Ronald Weasley! There is no need to be so rude. It's almost Christmas. What has gotten into you?" Ron's scowl deepened, but he grunted, "Hey," to Hermione. Mrs. Weasley watched his back in disapproval and slight confusion as he stomped out of the room.

"He must not have slept well last night," she concluded.

"Oh, he was up all night looking through all the stuff Fred and George didn't take to their shop," Ginny piped up. "I could hear him. When are they going to get all that stuff out of here, Mum? Some of those tricks would sell really well. They should take them to the shop."

Mrs. Weasley was distracted. "I'll talk to them about it when the come around," she said.

"They'll be here for Christmas, then?" asked Hermione.

"They should be here any minute, actually," said Mrs. Weasley, checking the time. Hermione jumped as a loud _CRACK _echoed around the room.

"Hello, Mum. How are you, Gin?" came Fred's, or maybe it was George's, voice.

"And blimey! Look Fred! Hermione's here, too!" Hermione smiled at the twins as they bowed theatrically. "How are you, Hermione? I hope you're staying for Christmas."

"Yes, I am. Is the shop doing well?" she answered. She remembered visiting the twin's shop the past summer. It had been packed to the rafters with students buying the tricks sold there.

"Better than ever!" said Fred. Hermione wondered if that was even possible. Then, just to ruin her day, Ron walked back into the room, followed by Harry.

"Why are you talking to _her_?" Ron snapped

"There's my brother's Christmas cheer for you," George muttered.

"Why shouldn't we talk to her?" Fred asked.

"She's practically dating M-" Harry started hotly.

"Shut up, Harry. It's none of your business," Hermione cut in sharply.

Ginny glared at Harry and Ron, about to defend her friend. Hermione put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "It's not worth it, Gin." Fred, George, and Mrs. Weasley looked at the four of them in shock.

"What's going on?" Mr. Weasley came into the room.

Ron started. "She-"

"Nothing," Hermione cut him off, still glaring. "Nothing is going on." She turned to Mr. Weasley. "Hi. It's nice to see you."

He looked a bit staggered, but didn't argue the point. "It's nice to see you, too, Hermione. Uh, why don't we all head to the kitchen for dinner?" He and Mrs. Weasley left the room, and Fred and George spun to face Hermione.

"Who are you 'practically dating'?" Fred asked.

"Nobody." She rolled her eyes. "You can't believe everything that git says." They gaped at her as she turned and followed Mr. And Mrs. Weasley , quickly followed by a very annoyed Ginny.

A/N: I'm sorry this was so short! I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP. It's a lot more important than this one. Review!


	12. Ruby Sun

A/N: This is probably the fastest chapter I've ever gotten up. Thanks to all my reviewers. Enjoy!

For the next few days, Fred and George pestered Hermione to tell them about her 'mysterious someone'. Ron and Harry were finding it difficult to continue their silent treatment with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley around. Ginny found it all hilarious

On Christmas day, Hermione was woken by a loud _crack_ as Fred and George apparated into the room she was sharing with Ginny.

"Happy Christmas, Hermione. Get out of bed, Gin," Fred began the wake-up call.

"Oh, that's nice," Ginny huffed.

"Happy Christmas, everyone," Hermione replied, yawning.

"We won't pester you about a certain someone today, Hermione," George began.

"But only because it's Christmas," continued Fred. "We'll be right back at it tomorrow."

"You'll be sure to relent sometime."

Hermione sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you? There isn't anyone." Ginny coughed.

"Right." Fred rolled his eyes. "Well, get dressed and come down."

"Or we'll open your presents for you!" George warned.

"We'll be right there," said Ginny sweetly, pushing them out the door. Hermione shook her head and pulled on her witch's robes. She would much rather have worn jeans and a tee shirt, but this was a special occasion. When she and Ginny were dressed, they headed downstairs to the delicious smells of cinnamon rolls and bacon.

Breakfast was incredible, and everyone was in a good mood. Even Ron and Harry managed to be decent to Hermione. The twins were boisterous and everyone was talking and laughing loudly. After a while, they all headed to the living room, which was way overcrowded with all of them and the large, glittering tree and heaping pile of presents. Sometime during breakfast, Bill and Fleur had appeared, followed by Ron's other brother, Charlie. Even Percy dropped in. Then, there was a frenzy of present opening. There were cries of, "Cool! Thanks, Bill!" and, "_Another_ sweater, Mum?" and, "Dad, nobody in this family _needs_ a muggle clock." The whole thing was a bit of a shock to Hermione, who was used to a very orderly ceremony, with only one present opened at a time. She decided it didn't really matter, though, and dove in whole-heartedly.

She was quite pleased with her gifts in general, but there was one that took her breath away. It was in a small, white box, a card on top. She flipped the card over and read, "Merry Christmas, Hermione. Thanks for everything.

Love,

Guess Who"

Perplexed, she opened the box, and gasped. Nestled inside, strung on a golden chain, lay the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen. It was a sun, spun gold and embedded with tiny rubies. The center was a small, perfect emerald. The whole thing was barely more than a centimeter and a half in diameter, delicate and stunning. On the back of the pendent were the engraved letters, "DM" Hermione knew what that meant at once. _Happy Christmas to you, too, Draco,_ she thought.

Just then George caught sight of the box in her hands. "What's that?" he asked. Then, "Blimey! Fred, come look at this!" Fred hurried over and stared openmouthed at the necklace. He grabbed the card out of Hermione's hands and read it.

"Guess Who? You can't tell us that there isn't anyone, now Hermione! Blimey, that's incredible!" Hermione blushed, snatching her card back and blessing the fact that neither Ron nor Harry had noticed the exchange.

"You promised you wouldn't pester me today," she reminded the twins. They looked at each other and said, "Twice the effort tomorrow," in unison.

"Guess you can only postpone the inevitable for so long," she muttered, and tucked the box carefully away from prying eyes.

That night, after a delicious dinner, Hermione showed the necklace to Ginny.

"Oh, wow Hermione," Ginny said. "That is just… wow. Who would give you something like that?" Hermione pulled out the card. "Guess Who?" Then, Ginny turned the pendent over. "Oh, I see. DM. Draco Malfoy. Well, that is pretty amazing."

"I just have to make sure Harry and Ron, or, for that matter, anybody else, don't find out who it came from." Hermione replied.

Ginny bit her lip. "I'll think of something."

The next morning, Hermione wore the necklace down to breakfast. She didn't even think about it; she just put it on. By the time she had realized her mistake, it was too late.

"Hermione, where did you get that lovely necklace?" Mrs. Weasley asked. Fred and George smirked. They knew she couldn't wriggle out of this one.

"Ummm… " She tried to come up with something, but it was Ginny who saved her.

"Actually, me and some of the other sixth years got it for her," she lied smoothly. "Because there was no way we would have passed History of Magic or Transfiguration without her." Hermione was surprised, but tried to look like this story was nothing new to her.

"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley cried, shocked. "That was certainly very kind of you, but did it really need to be such and expensive gift?"

"Oh, there were a bunch of us," Ginny invented. "We split the cost, so it really wasn't that much. And besides, it's her last year at Hogwarts. We wanted to make it special."

"Well, that was sweet of you, Ginny."

"Why'd you sign the card 'Guess Who'?" asked Fred.

Ginny shrugged. "Inside joke. You wouldn't get it."

Fred opened his mouth to say more, but Hermione quickly said, "When are we leaving to go back to Hogwarts? The renovations changed all the schedules, so I wasn't sure," distracting everyone.

A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed it. I've had so many reviews my inbox is practically overflowing, but it makes me happy, so I'm not complaining! Keep them coming! I'll update again as soon as I can (or as soon as I feel like it.) Next chapter: Hermione gets in trouble with the Weasleys (or most of them, anyways.)


	13. A Letter Exposed

A/N: Wow, sorry I took so long to update. School started this week, and so did swim team, so I haven't had any time to get on the computer. And right now, I'm supposed to be typing those two essays for History… Oh, well. Hope you enjoy.

That night, Hermione was turning the box the necklace had been in over in her hands, when she felt something slide inside it. She opened it, wondering what else could be inside. When she peered in, she noticed a folded piece of parchment on the bottom. She unfolded it.

"Dear Hermione,

I didn't want to put this on the outside of the present, just in case some of your 'friends' were around. Christmas has been a nightmare. All Mum does is cry because Dad's not here. Net that he was around before, much, anyways. But I understand how she feels. Don't worry, I'm not going to jump off of something high anytime in the near future. Or stab myself. I am no longer masochistic. Besides, I don't think I'd ever forgive fate if I never saw you again. It makes me re-depressed just thinking about it. Thanks for everything. I'll see you back at Hogwarts. Merry Christmas.

Love,

Draco

P.S. You may want to burn this card. Who knows what your dear Weasel family might do if they found it?"

Hermione smiled at the card and was looking for a good place to hide it – she wasn't about to burn Draco's name- when there was a deafening _crack_!

"Good evening, Hermione," George said politely. "What is that?" Before she could react, Fred had snatched the letter from Hermione's hand.

"That's private!" she snapped, trying to grab it back. But Fred held it out of her reach while he read it aloud to George in an incredibly sappy voice. When he got to the end, he paused.

" 'Love… Draco' Draco _Malfoy?!?!_" he yelled. "What the hell?!?"

"Uh…" she stuttered. "Yeah. About that. Um. What are you doing here? It's rude to barge in on people! Get out! I'm busy!" She didn't think this would help, but it put them off balance enough for her to shove them toward the door, managing to snag her letter in the process. She slammed the door, leaning against it to keep them from getting back inside. But, of course, she had forgotten that they were of age to use magic whenever they wanted to, just like her. There was yet another precise_ crack_ and the twins reappeared in front of her.

"You have some explaining to do, miss." Fred scowled imposingly at her. But just then, Ginny barged into the room.

"Fred, George, Mum wants you in the kitchen," she panted. "_Now."_

"Ginny, did you know that Hermione is dating Mal-"

"Yes, I am fully aware of what my friend is doing. And they are not dating."

"And you don't even care?" Fred asked incredulously.

"Will you please hurry up and get downstairs? _Before_ Mum slices someone's head off?" The twins huffed, but apparated out of the room.

"Thank you so much, Ginny," Hermione said vehemently.

"No problem. I couldn't let them kill you right after Christmas."

"I just hope they don't tell anyone."

"Who would believe them?"

"Well, if they and Ron and Harry all tell the same story, all I can say is, I will be in a lot of trouble."

"Hmmm… I see what you mean."

"And you'll be in trouble too," Hermione remembered.

"How do you figure that?"

"You lied about who I got the necklace from."

"Oh, great. I forgot about that." Ginny groaned. "Wait a minute. How did the twins find out, anyways? Since I'm reasonably sure you didn't tell them."

Hermione held out the card. After Ginny read it, Hermione said, "What am I going to do if they _do_ tell everyone else?"

"Good question. And it's worse because practically everyone at school knows. They saw you sitting at Draco's side day and night when he was in the hospital wing." Ginny grinned.

"Oh, stop it. I'm having a major crisis here! And all you can do is tease me about gow I was actually worried when my boyfriend almost died." Hermione shook her head sadly.

Ginny tilted her head. "I've never heard you refer to him as your boyfriend before. Is that what he is?"

Hermione blushed. "I don't know," she admitted. "I guess so. but that's not the point! _What am I going to do_?"

"Make a run for it?" her friend suggested.

"Please be realistic, Ginny. No, never mind. I don't feel like facing the truth."

"And the truth is…"

"I'm sunk. Completely and totally."

"Not true! We'll find a way out of this, trust me."

Hermione sighed hopefully. "Maybe Fred and George won't tell."

"Yeah, and I'm the giant squid."

"Ron and Harry didn't."

"They tried."

"Ugh. Guess I'll just have to stick it out."

A/N: This was a kind of short chapter, I know! But please review anyways! All of you people who already have, you have no idea how wonderful you are. I'll try and update soon, I promise!


	14. Different Views and Fred is Crazy

A/N: Nobody freak out: Hannah told me that my chapter names were boring, so I changed all of them. Review and tell me if they're better! Sorry this has taken so long, but I've been really busy. Warning: long chapter. Hope you enjoy it!

The next morning, breakfast was tense. Hermione hadn't wanted to come down at all, but she knew she had to face everyone eventually. Fred and George were glaring along with Ron, who was being his usual git self. Bill looked mad, too, and Mr. Weasley was scowling into his toast. Harry looked uncomfortable, like he didn't know what everyone wanted him to think. Charlie, on the other hand, was grinning cheerfully. Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, and Fleur, Bill's wife, were acting as if nothing had happened at all.

"Guess they told," Ginny whispered in Hermione's ear. Hermione nodded nervously, hoping that there wouldn't be some kind of dramatic outburst.

"Good morning, Hermione," Mrs. Weasley said pleasantly. "Boys, stop glowering. You look as if your best friend has died."

"With good reason," muttered Fred. Hermione had expected his attitude, but not his mother's. Mrs. Weasley had not had the best relationship with the Malfoys. Unless… Hermione could barely hope this, unless Fred and George hadn't told anyone about the letter from Draco after all…

But of course, she didn't have that kind of luck. "How's _Draco?_" George asked maliciously.

Hermione sniffed, trying to act calm. "If you hadn't read my _personal_ mail, I might actually believe you don't know."

Bill spoke up. "Hermione, I think that you and Malfoy… I just don't think it's a good idea." He looked as if he wanted to speak a lot more strongly, but, luckily for Hermione, didn't.

"Oh, come off it, Bill." Charlie rolled his eyes. "She's having fun. A bit of an adventure. People are allowed to take a risk now and then."

"It's a _Malfoy._ Their whole family was part of the Death Eater thing before You- Know…Voldemort was defeated."

"Eet is 'Ermione's life, not yours." Fleur said primly. "She can make 'er own decisions." Hermione felt incredibly grateful, even though Fleur was not her favorite person in the world.

"We just want to make sure she's safe," Mr. Weasley said quietly.

"Since when is it the business of the _Weasley_ family to discuss Hermione _Granger_'s relationships?" Ginny asked cryptically.

"What about Ron?" Mr. Weasley asked, determined to keep arguing.

"Dad!" Ron protested.

"Ron doesn't matter," Ginny interjected. "He doesn't have a brain.

"Ginny, be polite," Mrs. Weasley told her daughter disapprovingly.

"Well it's _true_!"

Charlie laughed. "Can't say I disagree with you there, little sister."

Then, Harry spoke up for the first time. "I agree with Fleur," he said softly. Everyone froze and stared at him. " I mean," he continued, looking uncomfortable with all these people staring at him like he was from a different universe, forget planet, "I think there are better guys for Hermione to date," he glanced at Ron, then kept going. "But it is her life." He looked at Hermione. She was stunned. She smiled and he smiled back ruefully.

"What?!?" Ron cried. "Come on, Harry! I thought you were on my side!"

"It's called being neutral."

"Traitor!"

"Stop being such a baby, Ron," Ginny snapped.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard! You're acting like a spoiled, stupid, egotistical-"

"Everybody, stop it!" Mrs. Weasley yelled. Everyone stopped. "Quit fighting. It's the holidays. Boys, go play Quidditch or something. Ginny, Fleur, help me in the kitchen. Arthur, you need to finish those papers for the Ministry." They all left, grumbling, to leave Hermione alone at the table, thinking. What if she _had_ made a huge mistake? What if Draco really _was_ just playing with her? What then? She found that theory a bit hard to believe, though. Why would he send such a beautiful and expensive gift- she fingered her sun pendent- to someone he didn't even like? And he wouldn't 'mess around' with a mudblood. He didn't need to get disowned by muggle born-hating parents. She stood and paced towards the door. She grabbed a cloak off a gook- she didn't know whose it was and didn't really care at this point- and stepped outside. She walked out of the Weasley's overgrown garden, still pondering everything. She was so confused. Everyone was telling her something different. "Have fun." "Be careful." "Don't be stupid." And what was she telling herself? She wondered if she still liked Ron _that _way anymore. She thought for a moment. No, definitely not. Draco was… She couldn't even explain it. (A/N: Just have to say, I hate that line. It's stupid.)

A loud _crack_ startled Hermione so badly, she almost jumped out of her skin. She tumbled forward… right into Fred's arms.

"Whoa," he said, putting her back on her feet.

"Fred," she replied, breathless. "Oh. I though… You were playing Quidditch."

"Yeah." He shrugged. "Ron was cheating."

"So you came to me? You're pissed at me, remember?" What was going on?

"I was."

"You _were_?"

He shrugged again. "You're hard to stay mad at for long." Then his eyes widened, as if he had told her someone else's secret. He turned and quickly walked away. Hermione's shock froze her in place for a moment.

"What?" she called after him. "What do you mean by that?" She ran after him, but, of course, she tripped, landing hard. She rolled onto her back, groaning," This is _not_ my day." She could feel a small cut on her cheek and numerous scrapes on her hands and legs from the gravel on the path she had been walking on. The ground was cold, and a fine layer of snow covered it. She knew she would be soaked and frozen before long. Fred turned, looking a bit confused and worried- and started laughing. He threw his head back and just laughed. Hermione, however, scowled.

"Thanks so much for all the support," she said testily. "Help me up, would you? I'm cold." He laughed even harder at that, but leaned over to grab her hand and help her up. She glowered at him, turned on her heel, and marched away in the opposite direction, more carefully this time. She knew she could have apparated- she was of age- but she didn't. With all the luck she'd been having lately, she probably would have landed right in Ron's lap.

"Wait up!" Fred called. She could tell that he was only just holding his laughter in. he apparated right in front of her, and she nearly walked into him.

"Will you quit it?" she snapped, regaining her balance. He looked as if he was going to start cracking up again.

"Sorry." His smirk would have made Draco jealous.

"No, you're not."

"Have it your way, then."

"Argh! Boys are so immature!" She had to think. She apparated into Ginny's room, leaving Fred alone in the snow. She didn't see how disappointed he looked.

Fred trudged back to the field where the Weasleys played Quidditch. George was the only one left there, the others all having gone back to the Burrow for lunch. Fred wondered gloomily why girls were so emotional. Hermione had looked so pretty, and, well, hilarious, spread out in the snow. Of course he had laughed. But she had been so touchy about that stupid Malfoy… He sighed and tuned into what George was saying.

"…missed some really great shots of Harry's. Shame you couldn't have seen them. Where did you go?"

"Oh, nowhere," Fred lied.

"Yeah, right, and I'm king of Arabia. You went to see Hermione."

Fred's head snapped up. "How did you know?" he asked, shocked.

"Can't keep a secret from your twin for long. I've seen the way you look at her."

"I can't believe she fell for Malfoy." Fred changed the subject.

"Ron tells me that he has girls practically dripping from him. She'll get over it."

"Uh-huh." Fred sounded doubtful. "But even if she does, she'll never notice her ex-boyfriend's brother!"

"You'd better be careful the ex-boyfriend doesn't notice you going after her. He'd blow a fuse."

"No, really? I'd be so dead."

"Well," George grinned as they headed toward the Burrow. "I think you should go for it."

"Do you really think it's worth it?" Fred asked.

"If you get her," George winked, "trust me, it'll be worth it."

A/N: Long chapter, I know. So… was it good? Review! And a thousand thanks to all the people who review regularly. You are amazingly fantastic! And do you like the new chapter titles? I'll try to update soon. Not tomorrow- I'm going to be gone all day. And not Sunday, because it's Easter. But if I have minimal homework, I'll try to update this week.


	15. What the Hell?

A/N: It's a SNOW DAY!!!!! I'm so happy! Anyways, thank you to all my fantastic reviewers. I'm sorry it's taken me a while to update, but here it is. Enjoy (as always)!

Hermione looked around her dormitory. She was glad to be back at Hogwarts, especially after the way Fred had been acting lately. Boys were so weird. She knew a lot of people would not like the relationship between her and Draco, but it didn't stop her delight at being back at Hogwarts. Those people were going to give her a lot of grief, though. She scowled at herself. Who cared what those idiots thought anyways? Well, she did, but she could pretend she didn't she straitened her shoulders. It was almost time for dinner and… There was a rap on the window. Surprised, she glanced at it to see a tawny owl she had never seen before hovering outside. It leaned forward to tap the window again, but Hermione rose quickly and opened the window. Chilly air flew in with the owl, and she shut the window hastily. The letter was addressed to her. She sighed as she took it from the owl and slit it open. What was up with letters lately? Before, she might have gotten two all year, and now they were flooding in (if you could call three a flood). She pulled it out and began to read…

xxxxxxxxxxx

Fred was sitting on his bed, brooding, when George sauntered in.

"Why so glum?" Fred's twin asked. "We had a great day for the shop." Fred shrugged noncommittally. George rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that," he snorted. "If you're so out of sorts that she's gone, write to her already. She won't even recognize the new owl ,so you can me anonymous and everything."

"Hermione? Did you see the way she looked at me?"

George laughed. "I did too. That was the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Besides, you know Hermione. She's always like that."

"Didn't make it any less embarrassing." Fred tried not to remember the previous weeks incident. He had said something really stupid-he didn't want to remember what- and Hermione's expression had told him more than he ever wanted to know.

"Oh, stop stalling and write to her," George said, breaking into his brother's thoughts.

Fred groaned, knowing he had lost another battle. He grabbed a quill and stared at a piece of blank parchment, feeling like a total dork.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Hermione could not believe what she had just read. Gaping, she read it again.

"Dear Hermione,

You don't know who this is (I hope). So you're going to have to figure it out yourself, because if I told you, I might be murdered by a certain ex-boyfriend of yours. And I'm probably the last person on earth you'd ever think of. Anyways, I was hoping you might leave the stupid Malfoy because… well, I bet you can guess. It would be great if you could send a reply back with this owl _now_ because I don't know of any other way you could reach me.

Thanks!

Somebody"

_No way,_ Hermione thought, shocked. _Who could have possibly sent that? Harry? _She rejected that with a disgusted _Ew!_ And besides, that wasn't Harry's style. Well, that left her with Ron (_Oh, God, no) _and the hundreds of other boys at Hogwarts. Having no clue what to say, she scribbled a quick, "What the hell?" on a slip of parchment, gave it to the owl, and set it out the window. She would show this letter to no one. Well, maybe Draco, but no one else. She headed down to dinner, the letter folded in her pocket.

Draco met her at the door to the Great Hall. He grinned when he saw her. His face still had the remnants of his old smirk in the features.

"How was Christmas?" he asked her sweetly.

"Long," Hermione groaned.

"I must admit, you do look a bit grim."

"They know. The Weasleys. About us." She hated to say it, but he needed to know.

He groaned too. "Great at least I'm not surprised. How did they find out?"

"That letter you wrote me. Fred found it."

"I did tell you to burn it."

"I didn't even have time to fold it up and put it in my pocket. They just apparated into the room."

"_What_? Into your _room?!?_"

"Oh, relax," Hermione told him. "It's nothing like that. It's Ginny's room, too."

"Oh."

"They do it all the time." His eyes widened in horror. "No!" she yelped, shocked at the conclusion he had made. "That is _not_ what I meant!" It grossed her out even to think of that idea. She shuddered.

He shuddered too. "Oh good. But you still look kind of…" He trailed off, looking at her.

"I got this today." Hermione held out the folded letter. When he had read it, he looked up and said, "What the hell?"

"That's what I said!" she cried. "And it could be any number of boys."

"Relax," he told her firmly. "Did you reply?"

"Yes."

"What did you say?"

"I said, 'What the hell?'"

He grinned disbelievingly. "You didn't."

"Yeah, I did. Honestly, what kind of letter is that anyways? 'Would you please leave your boyfriend and get together with me, even though you don't even know who I am?' Really!"

"Yeah, just forget about it. It's no big deal."

Draco really hoped Hermione _would_ forget about the letter. She walked away after quickly squeezing his hand. He watched her maneuver between the house tables and search for a place to sit, finally settling gracefully next to Ginny Weasley. He also had a good idea about who had sent that letter. He had, along with every other student at Hogwarts who had eyes, seen the way Fred Weasley looked at Hermione Granger. Except for Hermione herself. He had noticed that when Fred was at Hogwarts, he'd taken great care in not letting Hermione notice any of the looks he sent her way.

But Draco couldn't possibly tell Hermione. She'd have to be mad to choose him over popular and, (he had to admit) hysterically funny Fred. What Draco really wanted was to rip Fred's guts out, just for giving Hermione a second choice.

A/N: So, did you like it? Review! Next chapter will be totally hilarious, and also sad for certain characters… I'll try to update soon.


	16. An Unexpected Kiss

A/N: Wow, I'm fast. And I'm reading a story and typing this at the same time. So if I have some mistakes, I'm sorry.

"What did I tell you?" groaned Fred, clutching Hermione's reply to his letter. "Now I can _never_ tell her! She thinks whoever wrote the stupid letter is a lunatic! And it just had to be me who wrote it!"

George wrinkled his nose in distaste. "What did _I_ tell _you_? I warned you that I thought those were the stupidest words ever written."

"You got me into this mess by making me write to her!"

George sat on his bunk. "I firmly believe that she never would have said that if she knew that she had received a letter from such a… a fantastic person as yourself." Fred snorted as George smirked and went on. " Why don't you just see her in person?"

"What?" Fred yelped.

George sighed. "Maybe I should rephrase that. You go see her of your own free will or I'll make you go by any means necessary."

"Why?" Fred demanded.

"Because it's for your own good. You're pining away. You need a definite answer from her and you'll never get one if you don't see her."

Fred knew he had lost. Again. "Fine," he grumbled.

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Fred was back at Hogwarts, standing in the entry hall. He wondered how he had let George rope him into this. He'd been looking at Hermione for more than five years, and had never said one of the words he'd wanted to. How was he going to say something now? When she was _dating_, for God's sake.

"Well, go on," George commanded his twin cheerfully, giving him a shove. "She's not going to come to you."

"Great," Fred muttered.

"I'll be waiting right here for you." Fred groaned and started up the marble staircase.

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Hermione had finished lunch early and was heading to the empty classroom. She knew that she and Draco were pretty much acknowledged as a 'couple' now, even though almost everyone thought the pairing was really strange, really sick, or just plain betrayal. She also knew that since everyone knew, she didn't have to meet Draco here anymore, as if it was a secret, but she did anyways. _If nothing else, everyone definitely thinks we're crazy,_ she thought ruefully. She remembered only that morning when a Hufflepuff first year had come up to her and said, "You're that crazy Gryffindor girl who's dating a Slytherin, aren't you?" and walked away. She shook her head. _Whatever_, she told herself. Then, just as she was about to open the door to the room, she saw Fred Weasley coming down the corridor toward her.

"Fred!" she cried, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

He looked nervous and embarrassed in equal measure. "Hi," he said.

"Hi. But really, what are you doing?" She couldn't believe Fred was here, of all places.

He looked even more embarrassed and muttered, "I wanted to talk to you."

Hermione wondered if she'd heard right. "Me? Why?"

"Uh," he said. "Can we go in there?" He pointed to the room Hermione had been about to enter.

Totally confused, she shrugged, said, "Sure," and opened the door. This was not the way Fred acted. He was loud, proud, theatrical, and absolutely _never_ embarrassed or unsure of himself. But not today. She wondered what could possibly be going on.

"Well," he began once they were in the room, "the thing is…" He paused as if he didn't know how to put it. "You know the letter you got a couple days ago?"

Hermione's head snapped up. _How does he know about that? _She asked herself, shocked. "Yeah," she replied tentatively, hoping for an explanation.

"Yeah. Well." he rocked back onto his heels. "Uh, well, that was from…me."

"_What_?!?!?" _Fred?!? _Her mind screamed. _Fred__ wrote that stupid letter? "Why?"_

"Well…" he muttered. Clearly, this was not the reaction he'd hoped for. "You know. I just wanted you to, you know, give me a chance." He kept rambling on about how he didn't think she would ever give him another look and how great she was and quite a bit more, but Hermione had stopped listening. Her mind was reeling in shock. _Fred? Fred likes me? _Fred_ wrote that stupid letter?!?_ Part of her was flattered, but the other kept shouting questions. _What now? What are you going to do? What about Draco?_ Her head was still spinning when Fred stepped forward and kissed her.

Immediately, she went into total lockdown, with one thought screaming from the infinitesimally small still sane part of her mind. _Oh, shit, what do I do now?_ She had no idea what to do in this situation. Would it be rude to push him away, or worse to let him finish and then tell him that she wasn't interested? Or, was she interested? Fred, she noticed, was a very good kisser. She told the portion of her mind saying _that_ to shut the hell up before she went completely insane.

Then, from the doorway, came a very cold, "You bloody mudblood." Hermione didn't stop to ask about manners (or what she was feeling, because if she did, she would probably start shivering all over) _now_. She pushed Fred away as hard as she could and ran after Draco, wanting to cry. _He called me mudblood._

Draco couldn't believe what he had seen. No, that wasn't right. He could believe it, but he didn't want to. _Hermione, _he thought desperately. _Why would she do that to me?_ He hadn't thought she would do that to him, but he looked at Fred, then he looked at himself. He could see why Hermione might choose Fred. He could hear her footsteps behind him, trying to catch up.

"Draco!" she cried. She sounded so desperate, but Draco was furious enough that he thought that if he stopped moving, he would turn around and rip Fred apart with his bare hands.

"No," he heard her say, alone. "Draco," she whispered. "Please." He heard her footsteps stop, then she turned and walked away, feet heavy. After a moment, he turned too and crept back to the door to the empty classroom. Fred was gone, and Hermione was sitting on a desk, her head in her hands. She was crying.

A/N: Ah, so sad. Couldn't resist. Hoped you liked it, though. And I'll work on updating soon, as always. And review! I need feedback people! Oh, and you should totally read my other story, _Green and Silver Silk_. I desperately need reviews for that one, too! I only have 2!


	17. Sometimes a Slap can get Things Across

Disclaimer: It's been a while, so I thought I might renew this. I don't own anything, I just borrowed JKR's puppets for a while. All of this belongs to her except the plot and Keeping the Moon, which belongs to Sarah Dessen (great book by the way. You should totally read it.)

Dedication: I was going to say that the 75th person to review would get a chapter dedicated to them. I didn't know that goal was already reached! But I'm a good person, so this chapter is dedicated to Secretly-In-Love. You rule! The next chapter will be dedicated to the 100th reviewer. If there isn't one, the dedication is going to Margaritalimes, who writes the longest reviews. Read her story- it's amazing!

A/N: Yay! A fast update! Okay, I've been looking at my traffic, and I've had around 700 people look at this story in April. Come on people! Why are you not reviewing! Take the 30 seconds to type a bit of input! Anyhoo, thanks to everyone who _has_ reviewed, especially Margaritalimes, LilacGrace444, WinnieThaPoo92, Nicole White (you don't really review, but you have written like half of the story, so you are amazing and I love you!), Isabella120, Joseph Santiago (I'm pretty sure you're my only guy reader) and I'm sure I'm missing like 10 people, but there are just too many of you amazing people, so I can't thank you all. Moving on to the actual story…

Hermione wondered if anyone would notice if she didn't get out of bed the next morning. She lay on her back, curtains around her bed closed, blankets pulled over her head. Outside her protected circle (well, more like a rectangle), Ginny was trying to make her come to breakfast.

"Come on, Hermione," she pleaded. "You need to eat. You have to have food to get through the day, you know that."

"I'm not coming," Hermione replied, voice muffled by the blankets. She was also exhausted from staying up all night and her throat and eyes were sore from crying. "I'm skipping class."

"What?" Ginny cried. "Hermione Granger, skip class? What is the world coming to?"

"Death," Hermione said. "Destruction and misery."

Ginny huffed. "Well, enjoy it _before_ the death, destruction and misery."

"Too late."

Hermione's friend groaned. "Come _on_, Hermione. I've never seen anything you can't take."

Hermione wrestled her head free of the blankets and stuck it outside the hangings so she could look at Ginny. "I can't face him, Ginny. I can't."

Ginny sighed. "Boy trouble. Now sit up and tell me about it."

Hermione thumped back onto her pillows and pulled her blankets up to cover her face. "I want to die."

Ginny yanked back the hangings and dragged the blankets off Hermione's bed, glaring at her. "This isn't going anywhere. Sit up and talk or I'll turn your blankets and every piece of clothing you own bright pink and fix a charm to them so you can't turn them back."

Hermione glowered at her. "You wouldn't."

"Yes, I would," threatened Ginny, waving her wand warningly in the direction of Hermione's wardrobe. "Sit up." Hermione obliged, grumbling. "Now, what's the problem?" Ginny asked in a much sweeter tone.

"If you tell _anyone_ about what I'm about to say to you, even if it's one of your garden gnomes, I swear I will skin you alive. Without magic," Hermione warned. Ginny nodded, waiting. Hermione sighed. "I don't exactly know how to put this," she admitted.

"It's _me,_" said her friend. "It's _Ginny_. Just spit it out."

"Okay." Hermione took a deep breath. "Fred kissed me."

Ginny's eyebrows shot up. Clearly, this wasn't what she'd expected to hear. "No way."

"Yeah."

"I hadn't thought he would! I mean, I know he'd had a crush on you for ages, but still!"

"He had _what_?" exclaimed Hermione.

"Are you blind?" Ginny asked incredulously. "Everyone knows he likes you."

"Wow," Hermione muttered. "Maybe I _am_ blind."

"Back to the subject. Why is it such a big deal? Beyond the obvious reasons, of course."

"Well, normally I'd just be mortified for a few days and get over it, but…" She bit her lip. "Draco saw."

"Oh _no_." Ginny's eyes widened. "That's a bad situation to be in with anyone. But Malfoy? I don't even want to think about it."

"I don't either."

Ginny caught the look on Hermione's face. "What did he do?"

"He called me a bloody mudblood," Hermione whispered.

"Oh Hermione!" Ginny knew what it felt like to be talked to like that by someone she really cared about.

Hermione burst into tears. "He hasn't called me a mudblood since… forever ago!" she sobbed.

When she had recovered somewhat, Ginny put her hand on Hermione's shoulder and looked at her intently. "Hermione, listen to me." Hermione nodded shakily. "You _cannot_ let him disrespect you like that. Have you ever read the book Keeping the Moon?" Hermione shook her head. "Well, one of my favorite quotes from that book is 'You are a human being worthy of respect and some people will make you forget that.'"

"But he had every right. That's the problem! Draco didn't do anything out of line when you look at what I did."

Ginny shook her head. "You didn't do anything. My git brother did. And even if it looked bad, and I'm sorry but it probably did, Malfoy should've listened to you. He owes you that."

"But he didn't, so now what do I do?" Hermione asked.

"If he didn't listen to you then, you're going to have to make him listen to you now. I think you'd better go now, before you lose your nerve."

Hermione took a deep breath. "As if I have any. I don't know if I can do this."

"You can." Ginny sounded so sure. She hugged Hermione and jumped off the bed. "Come on. Get dressed. You just have to remember why you wanted to be with him in the first place and he'll remember too. Let's go."

xxxxxxxxxxx

Hermione and Ginny were some of the last people in the Great Hall at breakfast. Hermione looked over at the Slytherin table. Draco was sitting on his own, looking angry and unhappy.

Ginny hugged Hermione around the shoulders and said, "Go. It's now or never." As she stood, Hermione reflected that the advantage of being friends with Ginny was that you were always enthusiastic about what you were about to do, no matter how stupid and terrifying it might be. She was more than ready to give Draco a piece of her mind.

She walked over to Draco, head high. "What do you want, Mudblood?" he asked venomously when she stopped behind him.

"I wanted to talk to you," she said evenly, though her voice wanted to crack. His tone made her want to cry. He hadn't spoken to her like that since she'd broken up with Ron.

"Not interested," he snapped, standing, eyes blazing.

She slapped him, hard, across his face. "That was for calling me a mudblood," she informed him. "And this," she hit him again, "is for not listening to me when I tried to explain."

"There's nothing to explain." He raised his own hand as if to hit her, but she grabbed his wrist.

"_Listen to me Draco_." He flinched slightly. "Look at who you're talking to and tell me: Would I honestly kiss some bloke, even Fred Weasley, in a place where I knew you would be, after all I've put into this relationship and the amount I've lost because of it? I would have to be mental to do that. I'm not stupid and I don't have the intention of becoming the most-hated person on the planet, so why would I do that?"

He looked a bit shocked, but his angry mask quickly settled back into place. "I have no idea."

"Well then, let me tell you. _I wouldn't_. I'm not an idiot, Draco. Fred kissed me, not the other way around." Her voice got softer. "I don't want to lose you. This means too much to me. If you want, you know where to find me." She couldn't do everything after all. This would require a bit of effort on his part as well. She turned and walked out of the Great Hall, hoping either he or Ginny would follow. But when she stomped through the doors, the person she saw was Fred.

She was tempted to ask what the hell he was doing there, but he got his words out first. "I saw you arguing with Malfoy. Do you think-"

"Don't get your hopes up," she snapped, storming off. She wasn't in the mood to deal with the person who was treatening to ruin her relationship with Draco. Part of her did feel sorry for him, though. It had to have taken a lot of guts for him to come and tell Hermione what he thought of her. But just then, she couldn't deal with him.

xxxxxxxxxxx

In the common room that night, Hermione felt like the stupidest person alive. Maybe even the stupidest person who'd ever lived.

"He'd have to be crazy the see me after I hit him like that," she groaned to Ginny.

"No he wouldn't," Ginny said, scratching out an essay for Professor McGonagall. Hermione snorted. "I'm being totally serious, Hermione," Ginny said, looking up.

"Why?" Hermione asked. "And not 'Why are you being serious because this is so something I feel like laughing about.' Why would he want to see me? I know him well enough to know that he doesn't take the crap I gave him this morning from anyone. Give me three good reasons he shouldn't just walk away after I hit him and said all those things."

"Fine." Ginny glared at her. "Number one. Because what you told hem _wasn't_ crap, it was the truth and I'll bet he knows it. Number two. Because you are a beautiful girl, and I know he knows it. Don't give me that look Hermione. I'll be perfectly honest and say that he knows that girls like you are hard to find, no matter how cliché that sounds."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Whatever." It was clear she wasn't buying it. "And you still have one more reason."

Ginny sighed. "It's true and you know it. And reason number three: You mad him see that you were willing to go to him if you had to."

"What?"

"Malfoy has a lot of pride. I'm willing to bet he'd never go to you to explain unless he knew he really had to. You showed him that you were willing to swallow your pride and talk to him. For him. And besides, you woke him up."

"Geeze! Enough about pride! I get it! But what do you mean, I woke him up?"

Ginny giggled. "Did you see what he looked like while we were eating? He must've been up all night! There's nothing like a good hard slap to wake you up in the morning."

Hermione stared at her friend incredulously. "Ginny, honestly."

A/N: Well, I hope you liked it! More about Draco's reaction in 2 chapters! The next chapter is all about Ginny, and it's going to be great. Don't freak if it feels like it doesn't fit: I have a plan! Again, thanks to all my fabulous reviewers! Read my other story, please! It only has 3 reviews! And remember, the 100th reviewer gets a chapter dedicated to them.


	18. Didn't Expect That to Happen

A/N: I hurt my finger at swim practice, so I can't really type very well, so sorry if there are some mistakes in here. I'll do my best. Thank you a million and 12 times to my reviewers! I have 95 reviews, which is exciting. Oh, I think I said this in the authors note at the end of the last chapter, but I know Fred is supposed to be dead, but I decided to save him. Pretend he didn't die, okay?

Warning: Some bad language in here. Nothing you can't take.

Dedication: This is dedicated to Margaritalimes, who is a fantastic author (read her story!) and writes great reviews. Enjoy!

The next morning, Ginny woke early, in the gray time just before the first of the sun's rays started to slip over the horizon. Wanting to groan- she could _never_ get back to sleep after she'd woken up, no matter what time it was- she slid out of bed. She was about to head down to the common room when she decided that, since she was up, she might as well get dressed. Grudgingly, she pulled off her warm pajamas and got into her school robes, which were chilly after the cold night.

When she got to the common room, she looked around her. It seemed a bit too big and lonely without it's usual roaring fire and crowd of Gryffindor students. Ginny sat in one of the big chairs near the almost dead fire and sighed. She didn't really want to sit here on her own until breakfast, which was hours away. She was restless and wanted to leave. _Well, why not?_ She asked herself. There was no rule about how early students were allowed to be out of their dormitories. Making up her mind, she climbed out of the portrait hole and set off, not really paying attention to where her feet were taking her. She was on the third floor, in a corridor with slick black tiles, when she realized that she had forgotten to put on shoes. _Drat, _she thought. _I should probably head back to my dorm to go get some, but why bother? _It was fun to slide on the tiles in her socks, anyways.

Ginny was laughing as quietly as she could as she skidded on the slippery tiles when she slammed into someone, knocking the breath out of her lungs. She lost her balance, but a strong arm snagged her waist and prevented her from falling. Ginny recovered herself and said, "Sorry," trying to turn and see who she had crashed into, but he was standing directly behind her, and his arm was still tight around her waist.

"You should pay more attention to where you're going, Miss Weasley," said a low, teasing voice next to her ear. "You might get hurt."

Ginny was startled. "How do you know-" she started.

"I don't know a single witch or wizard who wouldn't recognize a Weasley, even from the back," the voice told her. It sounded vaguely familiar to Ginny, like a voice she'd heard one or two times, but never paid a great deal of attention to. "So tell me," he said. His voice was silky. "What are you doing sliding around the corridors before 6:00 in the morning?"

"I might ask you the same thing," she snapped. She was getting tired of his game. And she wished he would take his hand off her waist; it was making her feel a bit lightheaded. And she felt kind of trapped, unable to turn or move away. "And besides, I don't think it's fair that you know who I am but I don't know who you are."

"Maybe," he said, "but I asked you what you were doing first, so you have to answer before I do. And you probably wouldn't talk to me if you knew who I was, so just leave me as anonymous."

"Oh, that's encouraging," Ginny muttered crossly. She struggled to turn herself around so she could get a good look at him, but he restrained her easily. That surprised her; she was very strong, and not many people could keep her captive when she didn't want them to.

"Oh, come on. Just tell me what you're doing. I promise I won't use the evidence against you." He was teasing again, which would have annoyed her if his voice wasn't so…sexy. She rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything. "If you don't talk, I'll just assume it's worse than it is," he warned.

"Why do I care?" she asked. "I don't even know who you are." She couldn't figure out who he was. She would have guessed at a Slytherin, as he'd said she wouldn't talk to him if she knew who he was. But why would a Slytherin talk to a Gryffindor like this? Unless it was Draco Malfoy, which she knew it wasn't.

"Fine. If you talk to me, I'll tell you who I am after," he said.

"How long after?"

"Just talk."

"It had better be soon," she grumbled. "Fine. Do you want to hear the stupid, boring truth? I couldn't sleep and didn't want to sit still, so I went for a walk."

"Without shoes?" he asked dubiously.

"It's Saturday. I am perfectly entitled to go out without shoes on a Saturday. So just deal with it."

"Whatever you say."

"Now it's your turn."

"What?"

She sighed. "I told you why I was here, now it's your turn."

She felt him shrug. He was definitely holding her way too close. "Pretty much the same reason. Though you might notice that I am wearing shoes."

"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled. "And now you have to let me see who you are."

"No, I don't."

"What? How is that fair?"

"I just said I would let you know after, not right away. And I'm stronger than you, so you don't exactly have a choice."

"Ugh. Well, you'll have to let me go sooner or later. At this point, sooner would be better."

"You want to know who I am so badly?" Damn. He was teasing again. Ginny was finding it pitifully hard to resist that tone. And she didn't even know who she was talking to.

"Yeah, that and I want you to get your hands off me."

He tightened his grip. "Not going to happen," he whispered in her ear. She grimaced. Nothing could hold an argument against pure physical strength. And she really wished he would let go of her! She was finding it increasingly hard to concentrate with his arms around her and his face so close to hers but, unfortunately, impossible to see. And she had no idea who he was or what he looked like. The only things she could tell about him were that he was tall and strong. And she didn't find it at all fair that someone could have such a strong physical impact on her. Her brain didn't feel like it was working right, not to mention the rest of her. She was very close to trembling in his arms, which was way too cliché for Ginny. She hated clichés. And her lungs, trying to catch up with her heart, were forcing her to breath faster. _And, _besides that, her arms were pinned to her side by his, baking it impossible for her to reach her wand tucked in her robes and _make_ him let go of her. Though maybe she didn't really want him to…

"Please," she begged, which was not something she did often, but _something_ had to make him let go. "Just tell me who you are. The suspense is killing me."

"I'll bet you'll live through it," he muttered. She _knew_ she had heard that voice before! He sighed. "Okay, fine. But you have promise you won't run away screaming."

"I highly doubt I could get away anyways," she said cryptically. "And I'd like to see something that could make _me _run away screaming."

"Oh, good." Then, he spun her around to face him.

He had black hair and olive-toned skin, and his dark eyes sparkled with laughter, and something else she couldn't place. And then, _Good God,_ Ginny thought, she recognized him. A Slytherin seventh year, and Draco Malfoy's best friend. "Blaise Zabini?" she breathed. But even with this shock, it didn't escaper her attention that he was extremely muscular. Or that his arm around her still trapped her against him.

"Glad you recognize me," he said softly. _Shit, what is happening?_ Ginny thought. His face was barely two inches from her own.

And then, his mouth was on hers. Ginny almost pulled away, but for two things. One, his arm was _still_ around her waist, crushing her against him, and, two, damn he was a good kisser. The hand not on her waist moved to tangle itself in her long red hair, pulling her even closer. Almost without her own consent, Ginny wrapped her arms around his neck while her lips moved with his. Soon, she really was trembling. The rational part of her mind screamed at her to stop before everything got out of hand, but the rest of her just wanted to kiss Blaise with all the passion she possessed.

When his mouth moved off hers and to the base of her neck, she tried desperately to catch her breath (and her mind) and failed miserably at both. "What the hell?" she gasped. Her voice shook almost as much as the rest of her.

"Mmmm," was his only reply. His mouth was now exploring her jawline. Ginny had the feeling that she was in the middle of way too many clichés. Zabini was tall, dark, and handsome, she was helpless in his arms, and she had totally lost her mind. Well, maybe the last one wasn't a cliché, but still. She finally gave up thinking when he brought his mouth back to hers.

A/N: You probably are thinking, "Where did this come from? I thought this was about Hermione!" Well, it is, but I just had to write this. Don't worry, it really will work in the end. I hope. Just trust me. Please review! Don't just say that I was crazy because I put this in here. Hannah has already said that way too many times. And I like this chapter, so just deal with it. 101st reviewer gets the next chapter dedicated to them. I'll try to update sometime soon. Love you all!

-k


	19. Totally High, Drunk, and Drugged

A/N: I am so so _so _sorry for taking so long to update. I know, it's been almost a month! Go ahead and yell at me in your review (because I _know_ you're going to review). I had a huge amount of end-of-the-year homework piled on, so I didn't have time to really write, and my sister came home from college, and we had to catch up and all that. So. Moving on.

Disclaimer: HP doesn't belong to me (though my birthday is in two weeks. That would be a great present…)

Dedication: This is dedicated to Bunny08, my 101st reviewer. You rule! Moving on to the actual story…

Twenty minutes later, Ginny was back in the Gryffindor common room, sitting in the big chair and staring blankly at the fire a house elf had coaxed back to life. Once in a while, she raised her hand to her lips as if checking if the scene earlier that morning had really happened. Sure enough, her lips felt a little swollen. Or maybe she was just overreacting. Or she was crazy. Or overreacting _and_ crazy. _And hopefully hallucinating, too_, she thought, feeling slightly hysteric. Blaise had left her wit ha slow wink and a "I've been wanting to do that for forever, you have no idea."

"Hey, Ginny." Hermione had just come down the stairs from the girls' dormitory. She didn't sound happy, exactly, but she didn't seem devastated like she had last night, either.

"Hermione," Ginny said. She thought she sounded a bit crazy, too. "Am I insane?"

"Um, what?"

Ginny was still staring into the fire. "Do you think I've gone mad?"

"What brought this on?"

Ginny touched her lips again. "Please just answer the question."

Hermione was looking a little freaked out now. "I think you act a little mad sometimes, but I don't think you're crazy. Honestly, Ginny, though, why?"

"Either I did something crazy, which is probable, he did something crazy, which is pretty close to definite, or I'm hallucinating, which, unfortunately, isn't very likely."

"I've never heard someone hope they were crazy," Hermione said. "And, wait a minute. Who is 'he'?"

"I don't think you really want to know."

"I really want to know. I told you about Draco, and I felt loads better afterwards," Hermione pleaded. But she made a face when she said Draco's name. Ginny guessed that Hermione still wasn't convinced that she was worth his time.

"Yeah, you told me. But this is different. Kind of. I have no idea what to do."

"Ginny, you're scaring me. This isn't like you. Now tell me what happened." Hermione sat down next to her friend. Ginny got an odd feeling that they were doing the same scene over again, only this time with the roles reversed.

Ginny took a deep breath, thinking, _in and out. Chill. _"okay. I guess I'd better start from the beginning so it makes at least kind of sense." Hermione nodded, encouraging. "okay. So I woke up really early, and I just felt like going out, so, you know, I just kind of left. I was on the third floor, in the corridor with the tiles. You know the one I mean?"

"Yeah," prodded Hermione.

"Well, I kind of forgot about shoes, so I was out in just my socks," Ginny continued.

Hermione laughed. "Ginny!"

Ginny sort of half-grinned, too. "Yeah. So I was sliding around, acting like a stupid ditzy first year, and I kind of crashed into someone." Hermione raised her eyebrows, but didn't say anything. "And he caught me, so I didn't fall, but then…um…he kind of wouldn't let me go, either."

Hermione's eyes widened and her hands flew to her mouth. "Oh my god, Ginny. Did he-"

"Don't worry, Hermione. He didn't hurt me," Ginny reassured her friend. Her hand went to touch her lips again. "Anyways, his arm was around my waist- oh, wow. That sounds really bad. But don't worry. And he has behind me, so I couldn't tell who it was, which was really frustrating."

"How did he keep you there? You're the strongest girl I know," Hermione said.

Ginny grimaced. "I'm just going to say that it is unfair how strong some people are. To continue, he was talking to me, asking what I was doing and whatnot-"

"Isn't that kind of uncivilized?" Hermione interrupted. "He's talking you while not letting you see who he is, restraining you, and practically insulting you?"

"Believe me, I made my feelings on that pretty clear," Ginny muttered. "But I made him promise that if I told hem what I was doing before dawn without shoes on, he would tell me who he was."

"And did he?"

"Hold on, I'm getting there. Well, he turned me around and…um,"

"Ginny," Hermione began warningly.

"He kissed me." Ginny's hand traced her jawline where Blaise had kissed and went back to her lips. Again.

Hermione's eyes widened. "Oh good god! What did you do? No, wait, who was it?"

Ginny winced slightly. "Um, Blaise Zabini."

Now Hermione's eyes looked like dinner plates. "No way. What did you do?"

"Well." Ginny was feeling a bit ashamed. "He was a really good kisser."

"No way!" Hermione almost squealed. "No bloody way. Do you just let him kiss you? Or… did you kiss him back?"

"Umm…"

"Don't worry, Ginny. You know I would never gossip if you did. Look at the relationship I'm in. Well, sort of in at the moment."

"Okay, I kissed him back." Ginny was blushing furiously by this point.

"Oh. My. God. That's amazing. Then what?"

"Uh, he just said, 'I've been wanting to do that forever,' and he left."

"You're kidding. No apology. Nothing?"

Ginny shook her head.

"Wow."

"Yeah. So if you think you can't face Draco today, I definitely can't face Blaise."

"No kidding. But I know you better than that. You can't let him change your whole life. It's hard to go and face it, but you got me out there last time, so I'm getting you out there this time. And you can't starve, so yes, you are going to breakfast."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes. You don't have to say a word to him until he talks to you. Which, trust me, is way easier than actually having to confront someone. I should know. Now come on. I'm starving."

Hermione dragged a very reluctant Ginny out of the portrait hole and down to the Great Hall.

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Draco and Blaise had just left the Great Hall when Hermione and Ginny finished their breakfast and stood up. Neither of them really wanted to leave and risk being caught by some certain Slytherin boys, but they had to leave or be late for class.

Hermione didn't even notice that Ginny wasn't with her anymore when a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a surprisingly large alcove. She almost yelled, but when she saw who had grabbed her, she gulped instead. She wasn't entirely sure she was really ready to face Draco yet.

Ginny definitely noticed she wasn't with Hermione anymore, mainly because of the hand encircling her wrist.

"Hey, Ginny," said Blaise, grinning teasingly. "I see you have shoes on."

Ginny blushed. "Yeah."

"Come on." He dragged her after him.

"Hermione," Draco began, "I thought about what you said, and-" But just then, they were interrupted.

"Hey, this is _my_ spot!" Blaise Zabini told Draco loudly. Hermione was interested to see that his arm was around Ginny's waist, and Ginny was very red.

"Save me," she mouthed to Hermione.

"Sorry," Hermione whispered back. "You're going to have to save yourself. If you really want to."

Draco cut their mouthed conversation short, drawling, "I think that for what you have in mind, Zabini, you're going to want a smaller space." He was looking at Blaise's hand on Ginny's waist. Ginny went bright scarlet.

"Hmmm. You have a point," Blaise commented. "Let's go, Ginny."

"What kind of friend _are_ you?" Ginny yelled at Hermione as she was dragged off to places unknown. She suspected somewhere small, dark, and inaccessible. But she really hoped her suspicions were going to be proven wrong.

Draco turned back to Hermione. "As I was saying, I thought about what you said."

"Yeah?" said Hermione uneasily.

"And I guess… I don't think you would lie to me."

"Oh, god, thank you, Draco." Hermione couldn't believe how relieved she felt.

"But,"

"But?" The unease was stealing back into her.

"If you ever go near Fred Weasley again, consider yourself dumped, okay?"

"That won't be a problem." She smiled, and kissed him.

As it turned out, Ginny's suspicions were proven correct. The alcove was in a deserted corridor, dark enough that she could only just see Blaise's face, and so small it wasn't possible for her to be more than about six inches away from him at any given time.

Blaise leaned back against the side of the tiny space, grinning. "I guess I should probably apologize for this morning, but I just can't bring myself to be sorry."

"Um, that's okay, I guess," said Ginny, feeling a bit breathless.

"Is it really okay, or are you just saying that it's okay?" he asked, leaning a little closer to her. Actually, he could only lean a very little closer to her. The space they were in was so small that they were either touching or inches apart.

"Uh, a little of both, I think," she replied.

"Does that mean it would be okay if I kissed you again?" he asked hopefully.

"Don't you think that this relationship is progressing a bit fast for two people who've only acknowledged that the other exists this morning?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. But who cares, really?"

"Do I even get a say in this?"

"Well, sure. But I was still planning on kissing you."

"Oh. Really."

"Yep. But I would feel better if I wasn't forcing you against your will."

"Oh. Okay." Her voice was higher pitched than usual. "Then go ahead, I guess."

Fifteen minutes later, Ginny was heading back to the Gryffindor common room, feeling a bit dazed. And dizzy. And not really sure she was actually going the right way. This was confirmed when a hand grabbed her elbow and Hermione said, "Ginny, the common room is that way."

"Oh," Ginny said, blinking. "Right. I know. I was just… turning around." Even if Ginny couldn't see her friend, she know that Hermione was rolling her eyes as she guided Ginny down the corridor.

"Right, Ginny. Sure. I bet you can't even see strait."

"Hey!" Ginny protested. "Not fair! How can you tell, anyways?"

"You're drunk," Hermione told her. "Totally high, drunk, and drugged."

"Whatever!" Ginny knew that Hermione was right, but there was no way she was going to admit it.

"I'm right and you know it. You must have had a good time back there… with Blaise."

Ginny went bright red. "Thanks to you," she snapped. "You could have saved me."

"And have you miss that opportunity? I would never!" Hermione smiled sweetly.

"Loser. I bet you had a good time with Draco yourself."

Hermione only went slightly pink. "So what if I did? You were a bit preoccupied."

"Can we change the subject?? Ginny asked. She was walking a bit straighter now. "I don't want to think about it."

Hermione laughed. "You could tell him to leave you alone. But somehow, I don't think that's really what you want."

"Just shut up, okay?"

Hermione grinned even wider. "Yes, ma'mn!" she said in mock seriousness. Ginny glared and turned on her heel to storm away from the common room.

A/N: Again, I'm sorry this took so long! I also started yet another story, but it's not on here yet. It'll be amazing though! Please review! I'm working for 115 reviews. Come on people, you can do it! Also, I'm begging you to read Green and Silver Silk and Project Animagus. Project Animagus should appeal to you, so come on! It's a funny story! I've only got one review! I'll try to update faster this time, but reviews will spur me on.

Love you all!

-k


	20. Don't Notice Me and Apologize

A/N: If you're wondering what on earth you did that made me take so long to update, it's because you only gave me like 4 reviews. So that's why it took so long. Okay, so it was actually because I was at an international competition in Michigan, meeting people from Australia and New Zealand and Great Britain (and they had AWESOME accents!) but still. OMG, IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!! SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to my wonderful Hannah, because she actually wrote like a page of it. I LOVE YOU, HANNAH!!!!!!! SHOULD'VE GONE TO CORONADO!!!!! To everyone who isn't Hannah, just don't ask. Onto the story.

Ginny sat in the library, trying to concentrate on an essay for Charms without much success. She felt bad about storming out on Hermione that morning. But she was so scared. She would never admit it to anyone but herself, but it was true.

She glanced up as someone walked into the library. It was Malfoy.

"Hey," he said, to her surprise.

"Hi," she replied curtly. She wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone, especially not Blaise's best friend or Hermione's boyfriend.

He didn't take the hint as he sat down next to her. "What's up?"

"The sun," she snapped. She _really_ wanted to be left alone. "Why do you care?"

"Actually," Malfoy said easily, not appearing to be offended at all, "I don't. Hermione sent me to find out why you're so upset since you won't tell _her._"

"And what makes her think I'd talk to _you_?"

"I have no idea. Why don't you ask her?"

"Because she's right; I'm not about to talk to her. Do me a favor, and tell her to take a wild guess on why I'm 'so upset'."

"Will do." He stood smoothly. "But I'm not so sure you'll like the answer."

When Malfoy was out of earshot, Ginny let out a long string of very bad words and wished the words would push that morning out of existence.

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Hermione made her way to the Great Hall for lunch in a daze. She felt bad for Ginny, but she still thought it was sort of funny. She saw Ron and Harry and Cho walking together. She felt a twinge of guilt about the little chasm that had grown between them. They had been such gook friends for such a long time, ad now it was sort of sad. But if they couldn't accept who she liked, then that was their problem. Or at least, that was what she told herself. Then, she spotted another head of red hair, but it wasn't Ginny. It was Fred. She froze and her breath caught in her chest. He was talking to Ron and Harry, but paused when he spotted Hermione. He finished his conversation and walked over to her. She started walking away, but he caught up to her with no trouble.

"Hermione, I… I need to talk to you." His tone was pleading.

"I don't want to talk to you," she snapped. He was the reason Draco had been so angry with her.

"Please… I want to apologize." Hermione stopped again.

"Fred Weasley, apologizing? You're funny," she scoffed. But something in his eyes stopped her. Maybe he really was sorry. "All right, fine. We can talk." She led him to an empty class.

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Ginny was about to enter the Great Hall for lunch when two familiar figures started towards her, one with blond hair, one with black. _Shit,_ she thought. Blaise and Draco were still headed strait for her, but she was pretty sure that they hadn't seen her. Hurriedly, she pressed herself into the alcove where Hermione had ditched her that morning. _Don't notice me, please, please, please don't notice me. I'm not here. Don't notice me_, Ginny thought desperately. Malfoy and Blaise were passing her. _Don't notice me!!!_ For a split second, Draco's eyes caught hers, and she know that he had seen her. But he didn't say a word, much to her relief. She held her breath as they passed, and Draco shot a small smile over his shoulder at her. It was one of those infuriating smiles that says, "Haha, I know what you're doing. Watch out before it gets to be a bad idea." She wondered what he was warning her with that look for, but decided not to pay much attention to it just then. She just didn't want to be noticed.

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Fred shut the door behind him. He turned to face Hermione who was sitting on a desk.

"So…" she said, waiting for him to speak.

"Listen, I'm really sorry. I just… I don't know. I've liked you since forever, and the thought of you and Malfoy…" He trailed off.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know. I…I'm…"

"You're just a guy and guys are awful when it comes to feelings," Hermione finished with a smirk.

"Yeah, pretty much," Fred said, smiling. Hermione had broken the tension and he relaxed. He walked over and sat down on the desk next to her. "Again, I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Chill."

"Good."

"Cool. Let's go down to lunch. I'm starving," Hermione said, hopping off the desk. Fred followed suit and opened the door for her.

"After you, my lady," he said with a mock bow.

"Why, thank you, kind sir," Hermione laughed, curtsying. Fred laughed too as they walked out of the room.

"Thanks for apologizing, Fred. You really are sort of – Draco!" Hermione jumped. She winced into the eyes of a glary Draco.

"I thought I said-" he began angrily.

_Oh, shit, did this have to happen again?_ Hermione thought. "It isn't like that," she said helplessly, but Draco was still talking and didn't hear her.

"And I was just so –"

"Draco."

"I can't believe you-"

"_Draco._"

"How _could-_"

"_Draco!_"

He stopped, finally. Hermione motioned for Fred to leave while he could still walk, but he shook his head stubbornly. _Boys,_ she thought impatiently. "Okay." She tried to sound calm. She hadn't done anything wrong. "I know it looks bad."

"Damn right it does."

"I'm not finished yet," Hermione growled. She took a deep breath. "I had a perfectly good reason."

Draco snorted suspiciously. "I'd like to hear _that_."

"Fred was apologizing."

It got very quite. "Excuse me?" Draco finally managed to choke out.

"I said, he apologized for… before."

Silence. _Awkward,_ Hermione thought, but she kept her mouth shut.

Fred was the one who spoke first. "Well, I should probably go. I have a shop to run, you know."

"Not so fast," Draco snarled.

"Draco," Hermione said warningly. "Please don't get expelled."

"Don't worry about me." He glared at Fred. "Stay away from my girlfriend."

"Someone a bit overprotective here?" Fred asked. "Anyways, can't promise that, but I really do have to go." Draco glowered as Fred left.

Hermione sighed. "Draco, please. I am not a china doll. I can take care of myself. And I'm not about to run off on you."

"I know that."

"Then why do you act like…I don't know, like if you let go for an instant, something will break?"

He looked away. "I'm sorry. I don't want-"

She touched his arm. "Don't worry about it. Just… It's okay, all right? Now come on, I'm starving."

He grinned slightly. "I already ate."

"You're a loser," she muttered crossly. "Okay. I'll see you later."

He kissed her lightly and turned to go. Hermione smiled and walked over to Cho, who was next to Harry.

"Hey, Cho. Do you mind if I sit here?"

A/N: So, I hope you liked it! You had better review! Oh, yeah, and I will be posting a new (amazing!) story soon, called Just Can't Stay Away, so look for that! IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! Anyone who can guess my age gets brownie points and an imaginary hug! (No, really, I want to know how old you think I am.) Love you all!

-k


	21. Chapters 21 and 22

A/N: This is the end! I was going to actually have two separate chapters, but these chapters are so short that I thought all of you might kill me if I did have them separate. So here you go.

Disclaimer: Oh, sure, I'm JKR (note my dripping sarcasm…) Why do I even bother to put this up?

Dedication: This whole story is mostly dedicated to Hannah, because she put up with my "Hannah, help me. I'm stuck,"s for 6 months. Love you girl. This is also dedicated for all my amazing reviewers who told me to just freaking update before they went crazy. You guys are the best. Moving on to the actual story (the end)

Chapter 21

Totally Terrified Emotional Breakdown Because of Crazy Boyfriend

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That evening in the common room, Hermione was studying, which was something she felt she definitely hadn't been doing enough of lately as exams were coming up soon. She was absolutely fed up with her rune translations when someone walked up to her. She looked up impatiently, only to find Ginny, looking embarrassed, standing in front of her.

"Hey," Ginny said softly. "Can I…" She gestured to the chair next to Hermione.

"What? Oh, yeah. Sure." Hermione moved a stack of books off of the chair and brushed her hair out of her face. "What's up?"

Ginny sighed. "I wanted to apologize for freaking out on you this morning."

Hermione smiled. "It's okay. I shouldn't have teased you."

"No, you shouldn't have."

"Sorry!"

Ginny laughed. "I guess I kind of overreacted. I'm just-" She let out a breath.

"Scared," Hermione finished.

"I don't know what to do! What if-" Her voice dropped. "What if it's just a joke? What if he doesn't care? I only met him this morning, and I already don't know what I would do if that happened!" Her voice was getting louder and people in the common room were starting to stare. "What the bloody hell!" Ginny was close to hysteria. "It was _this morning_! I barely even know him!" By now, people were pointing and whispering.

"I know, Ginny," Hermione said comfortingly. "But please, you're making a scene."

"I don't care if I'm making a scene! I want to! And I want… I want… God, I'm so fucking scared." She buried her head in Hermione's shoulder. Hermione stroked her hair, hoping she would stop. When she didn't, Hermione made up her mind.

"Okay, come on," she said, pulling Ginny up off the chair and starting to walk her towards the stairs. She really wished people would stop staring at them. "What?" she snapped at some awe-struck first years. "Haven't you ever seen someone have a nervous breakdown before? The show's over." They quickly turned away. "God, that was fun," Hermione said, hoping Ginny would at least smile. She did, in a sort of unwilling way.

"Nervous breakdown?" Ginny asked when they got upstairs.

"You're nervous and you're having a breakdown. What more do you want?"

Ginny laughed hollowly. " 'Nervous' doesn't cover it."

"Maybe so, but 'totally terrified emotional breakdown because of crazy boyfriend' doesn't sound as good."

She smiled slightly, then grimaced. "Yeah, but what do I do?"

Hermione sighed. "Does it seem like we're having a lot of girl-to-girl talks lately?" she asked.

"Yeah, it does. But that wasn't the question."

"Well…" Hermione thought for a moment. "I guess… There's not a lot you can do at this point. But if you think your relationship is moving too fast, I _do_ think you should tell that to Blaise. If he doesn't respect that, he isn't worth it."

"You're right. Thanks," Ginny said.

"Wow, I never thought I'd ever be giving Ginny Weasley advise on boys," Hermione commented. "That is totally backwards."

Ginny laughed, a real laugh this time. "So totally! If this keeps up, I'll lose my reputation as the one and only Boy Adviser." Her tone turned more serious. "Should I talk to Blaise tomorrow?"

Hermione nodded. "The sooner the better. Now are you going to freak out again, or can I get back to my homework?"

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Chapter 22

Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye

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_Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye_

_This is the end._

_Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, _

_My old friend…_

-'Goodbye' by Audio Adrenaline

Hermione was absolutely shocked when school ended. She had been so busy with schoolwork and thinking about possible jobs and Draco and keeping him from murdering Fred whenever he came around, that she hadn't had time to think about the approaching summer. And suddenly, she was speeding off on the Hogwarts Express away from school and back to the real world. And the realization that this had been her last year at Hogwarts, that she wouldn't be taking the train back to see her friends and school again on September 1st, hit her all at once. This was it. She might not ever see some of these people again. What if she and Ginny didn't have time to see each other? What would happen to their friendship? What about Ginny, who still had another year of school, and Blaise, who had been in Hermione's year and was done with school? Would they have to break up just when they'd finally gotten things (including Ron's temper) worked out? And what about everything? What about Harry and Ron and Cho and talking to them about the properties of moonstone or some other useless thing like that, and correcting their essays? What would she do without the little routines she had every day? Going to lunch at a certain time. Quidditch matches. Meeting Draco in the empty classroom. How was she going to cope without all the random people at school who she know and could count on to be in her classes, to sit in the same places at lunch, or some other stupid thing she had gotten used to? And worse- much worse- what about Draco? Even if they did end up working close to each other, there was now way they could continue their relationship without the whole world knowing, which she was sure she wasn't ready for. The whole school knowing was more than enough. And the chances of them working together or close to each other were very slim anyways. What was she going to do?

When the train slid to a halt at Platform 9 ¾, Hermione stood and waited for Harry, Ron, Ginny and Cho to get their trunks and leave the compartment. She then grabbed the handle of her trunk in the space above her head and pulled. It didn't move. She groaned and pulled harder. That trunk wasn't going anywhere.

"Shit," she muttered angrily. She knew she was in a bad mood because she didn't want to leave, but that didn't help anything.

"Need any help?" asked an amused voice from behind Hermione.

She scowled, but didn't turn to face Draco. "No. I've got it. I'm fine."

Draco laughed, coming up behind her. "Right. I'm so sure." He put his arms around her. "But I'll help anyways." He reached up and grabbed the handle of her trunk and leaned back. It slid neatly out and dropped into Hermione's arms.

She sighed. "Thanks."

They walked off the train. Hermione spotted her parents in the crowd, standing near Draco's mother.

"I'll see you in a second," Draco said, and walked over to say goodbye to all of his other friends. Hermione hugged Harry, Ron, and Ginny hard.

"I'll see you sometime soon," Harry and Ron said in unison.

Ginny grinned at Hermione. "Pray you don't have any boy problems while I'm not with you," she warned teasingly. "Love you, Hermione. I'll owl you every day over the summer."

"I'll be swamped in paper." Hermione shook her head. They finished saying their goodbyes and Hermione went to find Draco.

He hugged her hard before she turned her face up for one last kiss.

"Bye, Hermione. I love you," he whispered when they broke apart.

"I love you too," she said softly. "I'll see you." They smiled sadly at each other before they left to join their parents.

Hermione felt a hand tug at her sleeve and turned to find Fred grinning at her.

"Don't I get a hug?" he asked teasingly.

She smiled too, and said, "No, but you can have a high-five."

"How come I don't get a hug? I feel so left out."

"Sure you do. But I know you. You would take advantage."

"Hey, I've got a girlfriend, I'll have you know."

"Really?" Hermione asked, surprised. "Who?"

"Angelina Johnson."

"Ah, of course. I should've known. Does that mean you're over me?"

"As over as I'm ever going to get. I'll see you around, Hermione."

She gave him a high-five and grinned. "See you."

He gave her a pleading look. She sighed and held her arms out for a hug. It was a small hug, a friend hug. "I'll miss you, no matter how much of a pain you are, Fred," she said.

"I'll miss you too. Bye."

"Bye." She walked over to her parents and hugged them. "Hi, Mum. Hi Dad."

"Hi, honey," her father said. He was eyeing Fred. "Is that your boyfriend?"

Hermione laughed. "No, Fred is not my boyfriend. _That's_ my boyfriend." She nodded towards Draco, who was with his mother, Narcissa Malfoy. He caught her looking at him and waved, smiling. She waved back. "See you, Draco! Owl me!" she called.

"You think I'd just leave you hanging?" he yelled back.

"You might do it as payback, for that time my friends were clinging to me like the offspring of the giant squid… No, wait, I got a concussion after that, so I guess that counts as payback. And I blame that particular injury all on you. You had no faith in me."

He shook his head. "Sure, Hermione. Sure."

"Love you!" she yelled over her shoulder as she and her parents turned to leave.

"You too! Bye!"

Her final goodbye was muffled by a crowd of students rushing to get to their parents.

"I'm not even going to ask about the concussion," her mother said. "So… How was your year, honey?"

"As normal as Hogwarts ever is," she replied wryly. Her last glance backward showed her Draco standing next to his mother on platform 9 ¾, talking. She smiled.

The End

A/N: I hope you liked this. Yes, that's the end. But hey, if you have me on your story or author alerts, don't take me off. I might write an epilogue. You never know. Another unending thanks to my reviewers. I love you all. Also, thanks to muddy worm for giving me the artist of 'Goodbye'. And check out my other stories!

Love,

-k


	22. Epilogue

A/N: I gave in to all the begging, so here's the epilogue. I did notice how many people reviewed when I said that this story was over, but I might write an epilogue…

**Two years later**

Hermione walked into the birthday party of one of her co-workers at the Ministry of Magic. A huge banner hung from the ceiling, exclaiming, "Happy Birthday, Jenna!" Hermione grinned encouragingly at Draco, who she had arrived with. Draco rolled his eyes at her enthusiasm, but smiled back. For some reason, he looked kind of nervous. Hermione spotted Ginny in the crowd of people and waved. Ginny waved back and started heading over.

"Do you mind?" Hermione asked Draco.

"Hmm? Oh, go ahead. I have someone I wanted to talk to myself."

"Okay. I'll be right back." She kissed him on the cheek and walked over to Ginny.

"Hey, Ginny!" she greeted her friend enthusiastically. "How's your first year at the Ministry going?"

Ginny shook her head. "As if you didn't know. My boss treats me like an imbecile, but it pays well."

Hermione shrugged. "Everyone treats new workers like imbeciles. Soon, you'll move up in status and actually be respected for a change. Oh, are you still with Blaise?"

"Yeah," Ginny replied. "He works in my department, which is nice."

"Must be. You can actually see your boyfriend during the day."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. You and Draco work at opposite ends of the building, don't you?"

Hermione sighed. "Pretty much." Then, she spotted something. "Hey, why is Fred here? He doesn't work at the Ministry."

Ginny followed her line of sight until she saw her brother. "No, he doesn't. But Angelina, his girlfriend, is really good friends with Jenna. Hey, is he really talking to Draco?"

Hermione moved so she could see who Fred was with. "Yeah, I think so. That's weird."

"Yeah, it is." Ginny looked puzzled. "They hate each other, don't they?"

"That's what I thought. I suppose we'll learn about it later, though. Draco will tell me."

Ginny nodded. "Then, you tell me. Oh, Jenna!" she called.

A woman with long, shiny brown hair turned around. "Ginny! Hermione! I'm so glad you could come!"

"Happy birthday!" Hermione said.

"Where's Draco?" Jenna asked. "And is Blaise here?"

Ginny pointed. "Draco's over there. Blaise is… here somewhere, I guess." Someone came up behind Ginny and hugged her around the shoulders. "Oh," Ginny said. "He's right here."

"How'd you know it was me?" Blaise asked, moving so he was next to Ginny instead of right behind her.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Because I know you."

Blaise grinned. "Of course. Happy birthday, Jenna."

Jenna smiled, too. "Thanks. Oh, do you mind?" she asked as another friend waved at her.

"Oh, no, go ahead," Hermione replied. Draco had just beckoned to her. "I'll be right back."

Draco still looked nervous. She wondered what was up with him. "Hey, Hermione," he said. "Um, can we talk? Over there?" He pointed to an empty part of the room.

"Sure," she said, perplexed. "What's up?" she asked when they stopped.

"Hermione." Then, to her complete astonishment, he knelt, and said, "Will you marry me?"

Hermione saw a movement over Draco's head. It was Fred, standing next to Angelina, grinning from ear to ear. He was giving her a thumbs up. She looked back at Draco's face, and nodded. "Yes," she whispered. "Oh, God, yes."

A/N: _That's _the end. Hope you loved it. Glad you all reviewed so much (and if I have any new readers, you had better review). Love you all.

-k


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